Victorian Archictecture

When you skipped down Margate streets,

with an expert buck and wing,

did you see the grand Victorian

houses on either side of you?

Did you like their steep slate roofs

with cosy attic dormers, engraved

cream brackets that ornament the eaves,

octagonal towers like lighthouses?

Did you notice the eyebrow windows,

iconic bays set in patterned brickwork,

ornate carvings on window sills

and interesting date stones?

And if the sky grew dark with rain,

would you keep dry in funny porches

with their complex gingerbread cut-outs

and new-Georgian spindle work?

Or did you laugh at such pretensions —

saw too well their patent faults,

never dreaming you'd spend forever

among Victorian stones and vaults?