The purple gloom of midnight hides <br />all outward signs of the decay. <br />A sense of grandeur still abides. <br />That’s absent by the light of day. <br /> <br /> Stray silver moonbeams softly show <br />to best advantage what remains <br /> of elegance from long ago <br />but very tactfully refrain, <br /> <br />From highlighting faults and flaws, <br /> so obvious in the bright sunlight. <br />The broken panes and sagging doors <br />are kindly hidden by the night.. <br /> <br />The formal gardens overgrown. <br />They have been long deprived of care, <br />dividing walls just heaps of stone. <br />Show through the brambles here and there. <br /> <br />I chose to walk this way by night. <br /> By daylight it distresses me <br /> to see it in its present plight. <br />When I recall it used to be. <br /> <br />A boys idea of paradise <br />I used to wish that it was mine. <br />It makes me sad to realise. <br />Nothing can halt its slow decline. <br /> <br />They’ll tear it down and in its place. <br />They will erect monstrosities <br />without a single saving grace. <br />That they can sell profitably. <br /> <br />A stately home for centuries <br /> will disappear without a trace. <br /> But I will retain my memories. <br />That something that they can’t erase. <br /> <br /> <br />7-Apr-08<br /><br />ivor or ivor.e hogg<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-fading-dream/
