Classic Poem

IN THE dark pathways of his Gothic mind
Grim faces, gargoyle-featured, peer and gape,
Heavy with cloistered sin inhibited,
From many a ruined archway, many a dim
Uncharted grass-grown by-way; and the dead,
But seeing, glassy eyes of things that ape
Sad human likeness, bar the path for him
To where, beyond the gibbering host, lies sweet
The untainted forest — fair and sweet and far,
With its green traceries, sheltering many a shy
Soft forest presence, and many a peeping fawn
Lures with faint notes, miraculously drawn
From the uncouth pipes, to where, on a green floor,
Dim forms are dancing, with dream-motived feet,
Under the quiet of the evening star.