A Spring Harvest/To a Dürer Drawing of Antwerp Harbour

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A Spring Harvest
by Geoffrey Bache Smith
To a Dürer Drawing of Antwerp Harbour
4224643A Spring Harvest — To a Dürer Drawing of Antwerp HarbourGeoffrey Bache Smith

TO A DÜRER DRAWING OF ANTWERP HARBOUR

Figured by Dürer's magic hand wast thou,
That, lightning-like, traced on the lucid page
Rough, careless lines, with wizardry so sage
That yet the whole was fair, I know not how:
Ships of gaunt masts, and stark, sea-smitten prow,
Idle, yet soon again to sweep the main
In the swift service of old merchants' gain,
Where are ye now, alas, where are ye now?
Gone are ye all, and vanished very long,
Sunk with great glory in the storied wars,
  Or conquered by the leaping breakers wild:
And yet we love your image, like some song
That tells of ancient days and high, because
  Old Dürer looked upon you once and smiled.