HIGH-PERCHED upon a purple parapet,
A saintly sentinel of marble hewn,
Clearly defined in sable silhouette
Against the silver of a gibbous moon,
Fetched out a handless arm as black as jet,
Calling upon the stars in prayer or threat.
Within the porch, an angel lying prone
Pressed her white bosom to a broken cross
And grizzly Death engraven on a stone;
Jaundiced and leprous with a lichen floss,
Leered through a jungle-maze of grass unmown,
Grinning to see an angel overthrown.
