Near and Far (Blunden)/The Inviolate

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The Inviolate
There on the white Pacific shore the pines
 Still serve their jealous gods, and late and soon
The murmur runs along their rugged lines,
 "What black ship[1] waits the crash of our typhoon?"

And in this vigil circled, calm and proud,
 God-gates and temples glow with changeless noon,
Their mysteries luring that young seraph-cloud
 Swan-like between the mountain and the moon.

  1. ↑ Black ship, i.e. foreign warship, as introduced by Commodore Perry.
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