Cloudland

Clark Ashton Smith

A faery land is this that far and high
And all suffused with tints of pearl and rose,
Above the crimson sunset hangs and glows,
By unseen hands upborne 'twixt earth and sky.
Vales long and broad and piléd mountains lie,
Upon their pinnacles eternal snows
Within its bounds; a silv'ry river flows
Across yon plain within a lake to die.

Beside that lake a city great and fair
With opal walls and palaces doth stand,
Its minarets agleam with magic light.
How high and tapering they rear in air
O'er rounded domes where banners fanned
By phantom winds wave beautiful and bright!

Printed from: eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/96
Printed on: April 19, 2024