Obelisk of Fire



And before that chasm of light,
As within a furnace bright,
Column, tower, and dome, and spire,
Shine like obelisks of fire,
Pointing with inconstant motion
From the altar of dark ocean
To the sapphire-tinted skies;
As the flames of sacrifice
From the marble shrines did rise,
As to pierce the dome of gold
Where Apollo spoke of old.

-Percy Bysshe Shelley,
Lines Written Among
the Euganean Hills
, 1819







images © 1998 by Randy Wang
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