Fires: The Stone and Other Tales

Snug in my easy chair, I stirred the fire to flame.

Fantastically fair, The flickering fancies came.

Born of hearts desire: Amber woodland streaming; Topaz islands dreaming; Sunset-cities gleaming, Spire on burning spire; Ruddy-windowed taverns; Sunshine-spilling wines; Crystal-lighted caverns Of Golconda's mines; Summers, unreturning; Passion's crater yearning; Troy, the ever-burning; Shelley's lustral pyre; Dragon-eyes, unsleeping; Witches' cauldrons leaping; Golden galleys sweeping Out from sea-walled Tyre: Fancies, fugitive and fair, Flashed with singing through the air; Till, dazzled by the drowsy glare, I shut my eyes to heat and light; And saw, in sudden night, Crouched in the dripping dark, With steaming shoulders stark, The man who hews the coal to feed my fire.