Page:Poems Howard.djvu/72

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66
POEMS.
Beyond obnoxious dust and heat,
By ancient elms surrounded,
An edifice unique and neat
As choice suburban country-seat
Its patroness hath founded,
In whose calm Sabbath-like retreat
From choir and organ anthems sweet
Of praise have long resounded.

A vast symmetric pile, ornate
With arch and cantalever,
With tiles antique that tessellate
The spacious roof elaborate;
And spire suggesting ever
A thought of Him supremely great
Who doth approve and stimulate
Each nobly-meant endeavor.

Rare arabesques like raveled lace,
From architrave to ceiling,
Embellish niches that encase
Fair cherubim, in classic grace
The sculptor's art revealing,
That overlook the chancel-space
Like sentinels to guard the place
When waiting saints are kneeling.