The poet travels to an imaginary place, called Lyonnesse. He shares details his journey and the impact it had upon him in this poem, the draft of which was found immediately after his return from the parish where he had gone to supervise the restoration of a church.
The poet sets out for Lyonnesse which was hundred miles away. It was winter and the entire foliage was covered with frost. The poet was very lonely. What experiences the poet would undergo, on reaching Lyonnesse, nobody could guess. No prophet, no wizard not even the poet himself could guess what would be the nature of his sojourn.
When the poet returned from Lyonnesse, people observed that the port’s eyes were bright with happiness. All around people silently admired the radiance and the glow that reflected on the poet’s face. The reasons behind this happiness and radiance were incomprehensible, but something had drastically changed.