| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | II. Written at Vallombrosa | | By John R. Tait (1834–1909) |
| | | THE PINY perfume of the mountain air; | |
| The brook’s abandon on the rocky steep; | |
| The rustling leaves; the tangled vines, where peep | |
| (Like black eyes gleaming through an Oread’s hair) | |
| Large, luscious more ’mid the wild-flowers rare; | 5 |
| The solemn forest aisles, where winds asleep | |
| Whisper their dreamy aves, or in deep | |
| Cathedral tones awake to choral prayer, | |
| While like an echo sounds the pious choir | |
| In the near cloisters;—this—so grand, so lone, | 10 |
| So sad!—is Vallombrosa. Gazing higher, | |
| The purple peaks glow in the dying sun— | |
| So beautiful! my daring thoughts aspire, | |
| And dwell with Milton on his cloudy throne! | | | | |
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