Poems (David)/Magdalen College

by Edith Mary David

MAGDALEN COLLEGE.

WITH pleasure, once again, I now behold
Magdalen's fine tower, rising grand and bold;
To cloistered shades I bend my gladsome way,
Beneath the noble gate, now old and grey.
On every trellised arch the ivy clings,
O'er every gabled point some tendril flings,
From each quaint nook, out-peep its lovely leaves,
Their pendant garlands waving in the breeze;
The virgin creeper, in rich massive shower,
Climbs o'er the gabled points, turrets and tower.
And in the verdant lawn bright scarlet leaves
Lie strewed, and withered all around the trees;
Down from each ancient arch there stiffly frown,
Grotesque figures with twining ivy crown'd,^a
Time-worn and defaced, now quaintly there stand,
Much changed from mediæval sculptor's hand,—
Proudly they raise their dark and blemish'd forms,
To brave the Summer sun, or Wint'ry storms!