Seite:Marsh Wolfe of the knoll.djvu/86

Detdiar sidj as efterluket wurden.

90

WOLFE OF THE KNOLL.

Years passed ; full many a wharf had bowed before the
    tyrant flood,
And still unharmed by wind or wave that sanctuary stood.
Yet, ah ! such changes time had wrought among the shifting
    downs,
That in a foe till now unfeared a sure destruction frowns.
In vain with tireless zeal they strive to avert the stern decree,
Onward the mighty sandwave rolls resistless as the sea.
Slowly it creepeth up the walls, it gathers round the door,
Sifts through the casements' guarded seams, and thickly
    strews the floor.
Long did they clear, from week to week, the swelling heaps
    away,
Meeting within those hallowed courts each blessed sabbath
    day.
But ever higher rose the sand, defying human strength ;
It reached the seats, the pastor's desk, and choked the door
    at length.

  * For an account of a church buried in this way by the sand, see Ap-
pendix VIII.