Regions of soft clear air, of cold green leaves,

[ZaunköniG]

Regions of soft clear air, of cold green leaves,
Heaths, grasses, solitary as a sea:
Vistas of gold and violet radiancy,
Isles where the surge and the lone wave-bird grieves;
White-citied plains, hill-cinctured, whence there flow
Eurotean rivulets pellucidly
'Mid laurels, reeds, blue lilies;--in the glow
A cape, with sheep, and ruins like ripe sheaves;
Fallen columns smooth as aged ivory:
Some citadel remote or rocky pyre
The sunset turns to purple and to fire;
Gardens of thyme and groves of olives brown
Along the slopes Olympian vapours crown,
Like gods in commune, formless, divine and dire.