"I have never seen 'Volcanoes' -" (165)

I have never seen "Volcanoes" -

But, when Travellers tell

How those old - phlegmatic mountains

Usually so still -

Bear within - appalling Ordnance,

Fire, and smoke, and gun,

Taking Villages for breakfast,

And appalling Men -

If the stillness is Volcanic

In the human face

When upon a pain Titanic

Features keep their place -

If at length the smouldering anguish

Will not overcome -

And the palpitating Vineyard

In the dust, be thrown?

If some loving Antiquary,

On Resumption Morn,

Will not cry with joy "Pompeii"!

To the Hills return!

Structure

20 lines · 5 stanzas