Through cool, green shadows; Little leaves hung in the soft air Like drowsy moths; A group of dark trees, gravely conferring, Made me conscious of the gaucherie of sound; Farther on, a slim lilac Drew me down to her on the warm grass. “How sweet is peace!” My serene heart said.
Then, suddenly, in a curve of the road,
Red tulips! A bright battalion, swaying, They marched with fluttering flags, And gay fifes playing!
A swift flame leapt in my heart;
I burned with passion; I was tainted with cruelty; I wanted to march in the wind, To tear the silence with gay music, And to slash the sober green Until it sobbed and bled.
The Complete Works: Poetry, Plays, Letters and Extensive Biographies: Ode on a Grecian Urn + Ode to a Nightingale + Hyperion + Endymion + The Eve of St. Agnes + Isabella + Ode to Psyche + Lamia + Sonnets and more from one of the most beloved English Romantic poets
The Poetry Of Ann Radcliffe: "Virtue and taste are nearly the same, for virtue is little more than active taste, and the most delicate affections of each combine in real love."