Moonlight from Kelburn

I have seen a glittering sword over the level sea,
Its haft, all velvet clad, inwrought with gems set curiously;
It tapered there far out to sea, beyond the setting tide,
Its whiteness took the soul of me, and there my spirit died.

It tapered from a winter's moon, hung in a low lit sky,
And plunged the darkling water through, to where the hilt did lie—
The night-clad hills of Wellington with all their jewelled lights,
Their song in the high wind overhead, oh night of a thousand nights!

R.F.F.