Beyond! Beyond! - So Says He Poem by Emmanuel George Cefai

Beyond! Beyond! - so says he
As he pointed to the citadel
That as an elevated square of red
Rose up unto the skies
Like flames of red.

The wind how weird it neighs to-day
The wind how doth it round
The citadel!

How dank and humid are its walls
And here and there
By grasses over-grown
The fortress-walls do weep their old neglect
While underneath
The houses slumber on
In the dark night
Whose silence only jarred is
By the tower-clock
That in the lonely night
Fights on its way.

No winter frost hath frightened it
Nor snowy blizzard hath
Disheartened it:
And in the thickest rain
High taut and thin
Its strokes come thro’ the rains.

And now
And now - to-day
In this vast starry night
Where glow-worms seem to dance
In summer’s mad delight-
And the lone cricket sings
Unto his mate
That on her wing now rests.

And now
And here
To-day
Let me dissolve my clay
In this vast wonder
In this oasis bright
In this new paradise
This night.