Chapter 27

231

TO MEADOWSYe have been fresh and green,Ye have been filled with flowers:And ye the Walks have beenWhere Maids have spent their houres.You have beheld, how theyWithWicker Arksdid comeTo kisse, and beare awayThe richer Couslips home.Ye have heard them sweetly singAnd seen them in a Round:Each Virgin, like a Spring,With Hony-succles crowned.But now, we see, none here,Whose silverie feet did tread,And with dishevelled Haire,Adorned this smoother Mead.Like Unthrifts, having spent,Your stock, and needy grown,Ye are left here to lamentYour poore estates, alone.Robert Herrick

Ye have been fresh and green,Ye have been filled with flowers:And ye the Walks have beenWhere Maids have spent their houres.You have beheld, how theyWithWicker Arksdid comeTo kisse, and beare awayThe richer Couslips home.Ye have heard them sweetly singAnd seen them in a Round:Each Virgin, like a Spring,With Hony-succles crowned.But now, we see, none here,Whose silverie feet did tread,And with dishevelled Haire,Adorned this smoother Mead.Like Unthrifts, having spent,Your stock, and needy grown,Ye are left here to lamentYour poore estates, alone.Robert Herrick

Ye have been fresh and green,Ye have been filled with flowers:And ye the Walks have beenWhere Maids have spent their houres.

Ye have been fresh and green,

Ye have been filled with flowers:

And ye the Walks have been

Where Maids have spent their houres.

You have beheld, how theyWithWicker Arksdid comeTo kisse, and beare awayThe richer Couslips home.

You have beheld, how they

WithWicker Arksdid come

To kisse, and beare away

The richer Couslips home.

Ye have heard them sweetly singAnd seen them in a Round:Each Virgin, like a Spring,With Hony-succles crowned.

Ye have heard them sweetly sing

And seen them in a Round:

Each Virgin, like a Spring,

With Hony-succles crowned.

But now, we see, none here,Whose silverie feet did tread,And with dishevelled Haire,Adorned this smoother Mead.

But now, we see, none here,

Whose silverie feet did tread,

And with dishevelled Haire,

Adorned this smoother Mead.

Like Unthrifts, having spent,Your stock, and needy grown,Ye are left here to lamentYour poore estates, alone.Robert Herrick

Like Unthrifts, having spent,

Your stock, and needy grown,

Ye are left here to lament

Your poore estates, alone.

Robert Herrick

232

THE COTTAGER TO HER INFANTThe days are cold, the nights are long,The North wind sings a doleful song;Then hush again upon my breast;All merry things are now at rest,Save thee, my pretty love!The kitten sleeps upon the hearth,The crickets long have ceased their mirth;There's nothing stirring in the houseSave one wee, hungry, nibbling mouse,Then why so busy thou?Nay! start not at the sparkling light;'Tis but the moon that shines so brightOn the window-paneBedropped with rain:Then, little darling! sleep again,And wake when it is day.Dorothy Wordsworth

The days are cold, the nights are long,The North wind sings a doleful song;Then hush again upon my breast;All merry things are now at rest,Save thee, my pretty love!The kitten sleeps upon the hearth,The crickets long have ceased their mirth;There's nothing stirring in the houseSave one wee, hungry, nibbling mouse,Then why so busy thou?Nay! start not at the sparkling light;'Tis but the moon that shines so brightOn the window-paneBedropped with rain:Then, little darling! sleep again,And wake when it is day.Dorothy Wordsworth

The days are cold, the nights are long,The North wind sings a doleful song;Then hush again upon my breast;All merry things are now at rest,Save thee, my pretty love!

The days are cold, the nights are long,

The North wind sings a doleful song;

Then hush again upon my breast;

All merry things are now at rest,

Save thee, my pretty love!

The kitten sleeps upon the hearth,The crickets long have ceased their mirth;There's nothing stirring in the houseSave one wee, hungry, nibbling mouse,Then why so busy thou?Nay! start not at the sparkling light;'Tis but the moon that shines so brightOn the window-paneBedropped with rain:Then, little darling! sleep again,And wake when it is day.Dorothy Wordsworth

The kitten sleeps upon the hearth,

The crickets long have ceased their mirth;

There's nothing stirring in the house

Save one wee, hungry, nibbling mouse,

Then why so busy thou?

Nay! start not at the sparkling light;

'Tis but the moon that shines so bright

On the window-pane

Bedropped with rain:

Then, little darling! sleep again,

And wake when it is day.

Dorothy Wordsworth

233

TO AUTUMNSeason of mists and mellow fruitfulness,Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;Conspiring with him how to load and blessWith fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shellsWith a sweet kernel; to set budding more,And still more, later flowers for the bees,Until they think warm days will never cease,For Summer has o'er-brimmed their clammy cells—Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may findThee sitting careless on a granary floor,Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hookSpares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers:And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keepSteady thy laden head across a brook;Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mournAmong the river-sallows, borne aloftOr sinking as the light wind lives or dies;And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble softThe red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;Conspiring with him how to load and blessWith fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shellsWith a sweet kernel; to set budding more,And still more, later flowers for the bees,Until they think warm days will never cease,For Summer has o'er-brimmed their clammy cells—Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may findThee sitting careless on a granary floor,Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hookSpares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers:And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keepSteady thy laden head across a brook;Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mournAmong the river-sallows, borne aloftOr sinking as the light wind lives or dies;And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble softThe red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimmed their clammy cells—

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may findThee sitting careless on a granary floor,Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hookSpares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers:And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keepSteady thy laden head across a brook;Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,

Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mournAmong the river-sallows, borne aloftOr sinking as the light wind lives or dies;And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble softThe red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.John Keats

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river-sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

John Keats

234

THE SOLITARY REAPERBehold her, single in the field,Yon solitary Highland Lass!Reaping and singing by herself;Stop here, or gently pass!Alone she cuts and binds the grain,And sings a melancholy strain;O listen! for the vale profoundIs overflowing with the sound.No nightingale did ever chauntMore welcome notes to weary bandsOf travellers in some shady haunt,Among Arabian sands:A voice so thrilling ne'er was heardIn spring-time from the cuckoo bird.Breaking the silence of the seasAmong the farthest Hebrides.Will no one tell me what she sings?—Perhaps the plaintive numbers flowFor old, unhappy, far-off things,And battles long ago;Or is it some more humble lay,Familiar matter of to-day?Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,That has been, and may be again?Whate'er the theme, the maiden sangAs if her song could have no ending;I saw her singing at her work,And o'er the sickle bending;—I listened, motionless and still;And, as I mounted up the hill,The music in my heart I boreLong after it was heard no more.William Wordsworth

Behold her, single in the field,Yon solitary Highland Lass!Reaping and singing by herself;Stop here, or gently pass!Alone she cuts and binds the grain,And sings a melancholy strain;O listen! for the vale profoundIs overflowing with the sound.No nightingale did ever chauntMore welcome notes to weary bandsOf travellers in some shady haunt,Among Arabian sands:A voice so thrilling ne'er was heardIn spring-time from the cuckoo bird.Breaking the silence of the seasAmong the farthest Hebrides.Will no one tell me what she sings?—Perhaps the plaintive numbers flowFor old, unhappy, far-off things,And battles long ago;Or is it some more humble lay,Familiar matter of to-day?Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,That has been, and may be again?Whate'er the theme, the maiden sangAs if her song could have no ending;I saw her singing at her work,And o'er the sickle bending;—I listened, motionless and still;And, as I mounted up the hill,The music in my heart I boreLong after it was heard no more.William Wordsworth

Behold her, single in the field,

Yon solitary Highland Lass!

Reaping and singing by herself;

Stop here, or gently pass!

Alone she cuts and binds the grain,

And sings a melancholy strain;

O listen! for the vale profound

Is overflowing with the sound.

No nightingale did ever chauntMore welcome notes to weary bandsOf travellers in some shady haunt,Among Arabian sands:A voice so thrilling ne'er was heardIn spring-time from the cuckoo bird.Breaking the silence of the seasAmong the farthest Hebrides.

No nightingale did ever chaunt

More welcome notes to weary bands

Of travellers in some shady haunt,

Among Arabian sands:

A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard

In spring-time from the cuckoo bird.

Breaking the silence of the seas

Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?—Perhaps the plaintive numbers flowFor old, unhappy, far-off things,And battles long ago;Or is it some more humble lay,Familiar matter of to-day?Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,That has been, and may be again?

Will no one tell me what she sings?—

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow

For old, unhappy, far-off things,

And battles long ago;

Or is it some more humble lay,

Familiar matter of to-day?

Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,

That has been, and may be again?

Whate'er the theme, the maiden sangAs if her song could have no ending;I saw her singing at her work,And o'er the sickle bending;—I listened, motionless and still;And, as I mounted up the hill,The music in my heart I boreLong after it was heard no more.William Wordsworth

Whate'er the theme, the maiden sang

As if her song could have no ending;

I saw her singing at her work,

And o'er the sickle bending;—

I listened, motionless and still;

And, as I mounted up the hill,

The music in my heart I bore

Long after it was heard no more.

William Wordsworth

235

"THE HEAVING ROSES OF THE HEDGE ARE STIRRED"The heaving roses of the hedge are stirredBy the sweet breath of summer, and the birdMakes from within his jocund voice be heard.The winds that kiss the roses sweep the seaOf uncut grass, whose billows rolling freeHalf drown the hedges which part lea from lea.But soon shall look the wondering roses downUpon an empty field cut close and brown,That lifts no more its height against their own.And in a little while those roses bright,Leaf after leaf, shall flutter from their height,And on the reapèd fields lie pink and white.And yet again the bird that sings so highShall ask the snow for alms with piteous cry;Take fright in his bewildering bower, and die.Canon Dixon

The heaving roses of the hedge are stirredBy the sweet breath of summer, and the birdMakes from within his jocund voice be heard.The winds that kiss the roses sweep the seaOf uncut grass, whose billows rolling freeHalf drown the hedges which part lea from lea.But soon shall look the wondering roses downUpon an empty field cut close and brown,That lifts no more its height against their own.And in a little while those roses bright,Leaf after leaf, shall flutter from their height,And on the reapèd fields lie pink and white.And yet again the bird that sings so highShall ask the snow for alms with piteous cry;Take fright in his bewildering bower, and die.Canon Dixon

The heaving roses of the hedge are stirredBy the sweet breath of summer, and the birdMakes from within his jocund voice be heard.

The heaving roses of the hedge are stirred

By the sweet breath of summer, and the bird

Makes from within his jocund voice be heard.

The winds that kiss the roses sweep the seaOf uncut grass, whose billows rolling freeHalf drown the hedges which part lea from lea.

The winds that kiss the roses sweep the sea

Of uncut grass, whose billows rolling free

Half drown the hedges which part lea from lea.

But soon shall look the wondering roses downUpon an empty field cut close and brown,That lifts no more its height against their own.

But soon shall look the wondering roses down

Upon an empty field cut close and brown,

That lifts no more its height against their own.

And in a little while those roses bright,Leaf after leaf, shall flutter from their height,And on the reapèd fields lie pink and white.

And in a little while those roses bright,

Leaf after leaf, shall flutter from their height,

And on the reapèd fields lie pink and white.

And yet again the bird that sings so highShall ask the snow for alms with piteous cry;Take fright in his bewildering bower, and die.Canon Dixon

And yet again the bird that sings so high

Shall ask the snow for alms with piteous cry;

Take fright in his bewildering bower, and die.

Canon Dixon

236

AUTUMNA DirgeThe warm sun is failing, the bleak wind is wailing,The bare boughs are sighing, the pale flowers are dying;And the yearOn the earth her death-bed, in a shroud of leaves dead,Is lying.Come, months, come away,From November to May,In your saddest array;Follow the bierOf the dead cold year,And like dim shadows watch by her sepulchre.The chill rain is falling, the nipped worm is crawling,The rivers are swelling, the thunder is knellingFor the year;The blithe swallows are flown, and the lizards each goneTo his dwelling.Come, months, come away;Put on white, black, and grey;Let your light sisters play—Ye, follow the bierOf the dead cold year,And make her grave green with tear on tear.Percy Bysshe Shelley

A Dirge

The warm sun is failing, the bleak wind is wailing,The bare boughs are sighing, the pale flowers are dying;And the yearOn the earth her death-bed, in a shroud of leaves dead,Is lying.Come, months, come away,From November to May,In your saddest array;Follow the bierOf the dead cold year,And like dim shadows watch by her sepulchre.The chill rain is falling, the nipped worm is crawling,The rivers are swelling, the thunder is knellingFor the year;The blithe swallows are flown, and the lizards each goneTo his dwelling.Come, months, come away;Put on white, black, and grey;Let your light sisters play—Ye, follow the bierOf the dead cold year,And make her grave green with tear on tear.Percy Bysshe Shelley

The warm sun is failing, the bleak wind is wailing,

The bare boughs are sighing, the pale flowers are dying;

And the year

On the earth her death-bed, in a shroud of leaves dead,

Is lying.

Come, months, come away,

From November to May,

In your saddest array;

Follow the bier

Of the dead cold year,

And like dim shadows watch by her sepulchre.

The chill rain is falling, the nipped worm is crawling,The rivers are swelling, the thunder is knellingFor the year;The blithe swallows are flown, and the lizards each goneTo his dwelling.Come, months, come away;Put on white, black, and grey;Let your light sisters play—Ye, follow the bierOf the dead cold year,And make her grave green with tear on tear.Percy Bysshe Shelley

The chill rain is falling, the nipped worm is crawling,

The rivers are swelling, the thunder is knelling

For the year;

The blithe swallows are flown, and the lizards each gone

To his dwelling.

Come, months, come away;

Put on white, black, and grey;

Let your light sisters play—

Ye, follow the bier

Of the dead cold year,

And make her grave green with tear on tear.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

237

"WHEN THAT I WAS AND A LITTLE TINY BOY"When that I was and a little tinie boy,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:A foolish thing was but a toy,For the raine it raineth every day.But when I came to man's estate,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:'Gainst Knaves and Theeves men shut their gate,For the raine it raineth every day.But when I came, alas, to wive,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:By swaggering could I never thrive,For the raine it raineth every day.But when I came unto my beds,With hey, ho, the wind and the raine,With tos-pottes still had drunken heades,—For the raine it raineth every day.A great while ago the world begon,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine,But that's all one, our Play is done,And we'll strive to please you every day.William Shakespeare

When that I was and a little tinie boy,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:A foolish thing was but a toy,For the raine it raineth every day.But when I came to man's estate,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:'Gainst Knaves and Theeves men shut their gate,For the raine it raineth every day.But when I came, alas, to wive,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:By swaggering could I never thrive,For the raine it raineth every day.But when I came unto my beds,With hey, ho, the wind and the raine,With tos-pottes still had drunken heades,—For the raine it raineth every day.A great while ago the world begon,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine,But that's all one, our Play is done,And we'll strive to please you every day.William Shakespeare

When that I was and a little tinie boy,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:A foolish thing was but a toy,For the raine it raineth every day.

When that I was and a little tinie boy,

With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:

A foolish thing was but a toy,

For the raine it raineth every day.

But when I came to man's estate,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:'Gainst Knaves and Theeves men shut their gate,For the raine it raineth every day.

But when I came to man's estate,

With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:

'Gainst Knaves and Theeves men shut their gate,

For the raine it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas, to wive,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:By swaggering could I never thrive,For the raine it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas, to wive,

With hey, ho, the winde and the raine:

By swaggering could I never thrive,

For the raine it raineth every day.

But when I came unto my beds,With hey, ho, the wind and the raine,With tos-pottes still had drunken heades,—For the raine it raineth every day.

But when I came unto my beds,

With hey, ho, the wind and the raine,

With tos-pottes still had drunken heades,—

For the raine it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begon,With hey, ho, the winde and the raine,But that's all one, our Play is done,And we'll strive to please you every day.William Shakespeare

A great while ago the world begon,

With hey, ho, the winde and the raine,

But that's all one, our Play is done,

And we'll strive to please you every day.

William Shakespeare

238

SONGThe feathers of the willowAre half of them grown yellowAbove the swelling stream;And ragged are the bushes,And rusty are the rushesAnd wild the clouded gleam.The thistle now is older,His stalk begins to moulder,His head is white as snow;The branches all are barer,The linnet's song is rarerThe robin pipeth now.Canon Dixon

The feathers of the willowAre half of them grown yellowAbove the swelling stream;And ragged are the bushes,And rusty are the rushesAnd wild the clouded gleam.The thistle now is older,His stalk begins to moulder,His head is white as snow;The branches all are barer,The linnet's song is rarerThe robin pipeth now.Canon Dixon

The feathers of the willowAre half of them grown yellowAbove the swelling stream;And ragged are the bushes,And rusty are the rushesAnd wild the clouded gleam.

The feathers of the willow

Are half of them grown yellow

Above the swelling stream;

And ragged are the bushes,

And rusty are the rushes

And wild the clouded gleam.

The thistle now is older,His stalk begins to moulder,His head is white as snow;The branches all are barer,The linnet's song is rarerThe robin pipeth now.Canon Dixon

The thistle now is older,

His stalk begins to moulder,

His head is white as snow;

The branches all are barer,

The linnet's song is rarer

The robin pipeth now.

Canon Dixon

239

FALL, LEAVES, FALLFall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;Lengthen night and shorten day;Every leaf speaks bliss to me,Fluttering from the autumn tree.I shall smile when wreaths of snowBlossom where the rose should grow;I shall sing when night's decayUshers in a drearier day.Emily Brontë

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;Lengthen night and shorten day;Every leaf speaks bliss to me,Fluttering from the autumn tree.I shall smile when wreaths of snowBlossom where the rose should grow;I shall sing when night's decayUshers in a drearier day.Emily Brontë

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;Lengthen night and shorten day;Every leaf speaks bliss to me,Fluttering from the autumn tree.

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me,

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snowBlossom where the rose should grow;I shall sing when night's decayUshers in a drearier day.Emily Brontë

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night's decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

Emily Brontë

240

THE SANDS OF DEE"O Mary, go and call the cattle home,And call the cattle home,And call the cattle homeAcross the sands of Dee;"The western wind was wild and dank with foam,And all alone went she.The western tide crept up along the sand,And o'er and o'er the sand,And round and round the sand,As far as eye could see.The rolling mist came down and hid the land:And never home came she."Oh! is it weed, or fish, or floating hair—A tress of golden hair,A drownèd maiden's hairAbove the nets at sea?Was never salmon yet that shone so fairAmong the stakes on Dee."They rowed her in across the rolling foam,The cruel crawling foam,The cruel hungry foam,To her grave beside the sea:But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle homeAcross the sands of Dee.Charles Kingsley

"O Mary, go and call the cattle home,And call the cattle home,And call the cattle homeAcross the sands of Dee;"The western wind was wild and dank with foam,And all alone went she.The western tide crept up along the sand,And o'er and o'er the sand,And round and round the sand,As far as eye could see.The rolling mist came down and hid the land:And never home came she."Oh! is it weed, or fish, or floating hair—A tress of golden hair,A drownèd maiden's hairAbove the nets at sea?Was never salmon yet that shone so fairAmong the stakes on Dee."They rowed her in across the rolling foam,The cruel crawling foam,The cruel hungry foam,To her grave beside the sea:But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle homeAcross the sands of Dee.Charles Kingsley

"O Mary, go and call the cattle home,And call the cattle home,And call the cattle homeAcross the sands of Dee;"The western wind was wild and dank with foam,And all alone went she.

"O Mary, go and call the cattle home,

And call the cattle home,

And call the cattle home

Across the sands of Dee;"

The western wind was wild and dank with foam,

And all alone went she.

The western tide crept up along the sand,And o'er and o'er the sand,And round and round the sand,As far as eye could see.The rolling mist came down and hid the land:And never home came she.

The western tide crept up along the sand,

And o'er and o'er the sand,

And round and round the sand,

As far as eye could see.

The rolling mist came down and hid the land:

And never home came she.

"Oh! is it weed, or fish, or floating hair—A tress of golden hair,A drownèd maiden's hairAbove the nets at sea?Was never salmon yet that shone so fairAmong the stakes on Dee."

"Oh! is it weed, or fish, or floating hair—

A tress of golden hair,

A drownèd maiden's hair

Above the nets at sea?

Was never salmon yet that shone so fair

Among the stakes on Dee."

They rowed her in across the rolling foam,The cruel crawling foam,The cruel hungry foam,To her grave beside the sea:But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle homeAcross the sands of Dee.Charles Kingsley

They rowed her in across the rolling foam,

The cruel crawling foam,

The cruel hungry foam,

To her grave beside the sea:

But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home

Across the sands of Dee.

Charles Kingsley

241

BREAK, BREAK, BREAKBreak, break, break,On thy cold grey stones, O Sea!And I would that my tongue could utterThe thoughts that arise in me.O well for the fisherman's boy,That he shouts with his sister at play!O well for the sailor lad,That he sings in his boat on the bay!And the stately ships go onTo their haven under the hill;But O for the touch of a vanished hand,And the sound of a voice that is still!Break, break, break,At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!But the tender grace of a day that is deadWill never come back to me.Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Break, break, break,On thy cold grey stones, O Sea!And I would that my tongue could utterThe thoughts that arise in me.O well for the fisherman's boy,That he shouts with his sister at play!O well for the sailor lad,That he sings in his boat on the bay!And the stately ships go onTo their haven under the hill;But O for the touch of a vanished hand,And the sound of a voice that is still!Break, break, break,At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!But the tender grace of a day that is deadWill never come back to me.Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Break, break, break,On thy cold grey stones, O Sea!And I would that my tongue could utterThe thoughts that arise in me.

Break, break, break,

On thy cold grey stones, O Sea!

And I would that my tongue could utter

The thoughts that arise in me.

O well for the fisherman's boy,That he shouts with his sister at play!O well for the sailor lad,That he sings in his boat on the bay!

O well for the fisherman's boy,

That he shouts with his sister at play!

O well for the sailor lad,

That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go onTo their haven under the hill;But O for the touch of a vanished hand,And the sound of a voice that is still!

And the stately ships go on

To their haven under the hill;

But O for the touch of a vanished hand,

And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break,At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!But the tender grace of a day that is deadWill never come back to me.Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Break, break, break,

At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!

But the tender grace of a day that is dead

Will never come back to me.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

242

ODE TO THE WEST WINDIO, wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves deadAre driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O, thou,Who chariotest to their dark wintry bedThe wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low,Each like a corpse within its grave, untilThine azure sister of the spring shall blowHer clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)With living hues and odours plain and hill:Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;Destroyer and preserver; hear, O hear!IIThou on whose stream, mid the steep sky's commotion,Loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed,Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,Angels of rain and lightning: there are spreadOn the blue surface of thine airy surge,Like the bright hair uplifted from the headOf some fierce Maenad, even from the dim vergeOf the horizon to the zenith's heightThe locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirgeOf the dying year, to which this closing nightWill be the dome of a vast sepulchre,Vaulted with all thy congregated mightOf vapours, from whose solid atmosphereBlack rain, and fire, and hail will burst: O hear!IIIThou who didst waken from his summer dreamsThe blue Mediterranean, where he lay,Lulled by the coil of his crystàlline streams,Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay,And saw in sleep old palaces and towersQuivering within the wave's intenser day,All overgrown with azure moss and flowersSo sweet, the sense faints picturing them! ThouFor whose path the Atlantic's level powersCleave themselves into chasms, while far belowThe sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wearThe sapless foliage of the ocean, knowThy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear,And tremble and despoil themselves: O hear!IVIf I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear;If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee;A wave to pant beneath thy power, and shareThe impulse of thy strength, only less freeThan thou, O, uncontrollable! If evenI were as in my boyhood, and could beThe comrade of thy wanderings over heaven,As then, when to outstrip thy skiey speedScarce seemed a vision; I would ne'er have strivenAs thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.Oh! lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowedOne too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud.VMake me thy lyre, even as the forest is:What if my leaves are falling like its own!The tumult of thy mighty harmoniesWill take from both a deep, autumnal tone,Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, spirit fierce,My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!Drive my dead thoughts over the universeLike withered leaves to quicken a new birth!And, by the incantation of this verse,Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearthAshes and sparks, my words among mankind!Be through my lips to unawakened earthThe trumpet of a prophecy! O, wind,If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?Percy Bysshe Shelley

O, wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves deadAre driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O, thou,Who chariotest to their dark wintry bedThe wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low,Each like a corpse within its grave, untilThine azure sister of the spring shall blowHer clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)With living hues and odours plain and hill:Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;Destroyer and preserver; hear, O hear!IIThou on whose stream, mid the steep sky's commotion,Loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed,Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,Angels of rain and lightning: there are spreadOn the blue surface of thine airy surge,Like the bright hair uplifted from the headOf some fierce Maenad, even from the dim vergeOf the horizon to the zenith's heightThe locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirgeOf the dying year, to which this closing nightWill be the dome of a vast sepulchre,Vaulted with all thy congregated mightOf vapours, from whose solid atmosphereBlack rain, and fire, and hail will burst: O hear!IIIThou who didst waken from his summer dreamsThe blue Mediterranean, where he lay,Lulled by the coil of his crystàlline streams,Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay,And saw in sleep old palaces and towersQuivering within the wave's intenser day,All overgrown with azure moss and flowersSo sweet, the sense faints picturing them! ThouFor whose path the Atlantic's level powersCleave themselves into chasms, while far belowThe sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wearThe sapless foliage of the ocean, knowThy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear,And tremble and despoil themselves: O hear!IVIf I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear;If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee;A wave to pant beneath thy power, and shareThe impulse of thy strength, only less freeThan thou, O, uncontrollable! If evenI were as in my boyhood, and could beThe comrade of thy wanderings over heaven,As then, when to outstrip thy skiey speedScarce seemed a vision; I would ne'er have strivenAs thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.Oh! lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowedOne too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud.VMake me thy lyre, even as the forest is:What if my leaves are falling like its own!The tumult of thy mighty harmoniesWill take from both a deep, autumnal tone,Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, spirit fierce,My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!Drive my dead thoughts over the universeLike withered leaves to quicken a new birth!And, by the incantation of this verse,Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearthAshes and sparks, my words among mankind!Be through my lips to unawakened earthThe trumpet of a prophecy! O, wind,If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?Percy Bysshe Shelley

O, wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves deadAre driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,

O, wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,

Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead

Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,

Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O, thou,Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed

Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,

Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O, thou,

Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed

The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low,Each like a corpse within its grave, untilThine azure sister of the spring shall blow

The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low,

Each like a corpse within its grave, until

Thine azure sister of the spring shall blow

Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)With living hues and odours plain and hill:

Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill

(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)

With living hues and odours plain and hill:

Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;Destroyer and preserver; hear, O hear!

Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;

Destroyer and preserver; hear, O hear!

Thou on whose stream, mid the steep sky's commotion,Loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed,Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,

Thou on whose stream, mid the steep sky's commotion,

Loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed,

Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,

Angels of rain and lightning: there are spreadOn the blue surface of thine airy surge,Like the bright hair uplifted from the head

Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread

On the blue surface of thine airy surge,

Like the bright hair uplifted from the head

Of some fierce Maenad, even from the dim vergeOf the horizon to the zenith's heightThe locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirge

Of some fierce Maenad, even from the dim verge

Of the horizon to the zenith's height

The locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirge

Of the dying year, to which this closing nightWill be the dome of a vast sepulchre,Vaulted with all thy congregated might

Of the dying year, to which this closing night

Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre,

Vaulted with all thy congregated might

Of vapours, from whose solid atmosphereBlack rain, and fire, and hail will burst: O hear!

Of vapours, from whose solid atmosphere

Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: O hear!

III

Thou who didst waken from his summer dreamsThe blue Mediterranean, where he lay,Lulled by the coil of his crystàlline streams,

Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams

The blue Mediterranean, where he lay,

Lulled by the coil of his crystàlline streams,

Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay,And saw in sleep old palaces and towersQuivering within the wave's intenser day,

Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay,

And saw in sleep old palaces and towers

Quivering within the wave's intenser day,

All overgrown with azure moss and flowersSo sweet, the sense faints picturing them! ThouFor whose path the Atlantic's level powers

All overgrown with azure moss and flowers

So sweet, the sense faints picturing them! Thou

For whose path the Atlantic's level powers

Cleave themselves into chasms, while far belowThe sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wearThe sapless foliage of the ocean, know

Cleave themselves into chasms, while far below

The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear

The sapless foliage of the ocean, know

Thy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear,And tremble and despoil themselves: O hear!

Thy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear,

And tremble and despoil themselves: O hear!

If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear;If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee;A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share

If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear;

If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee;

A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share

The impulse of thy strength, only less freeThan thou, O, uncontrollable! If evenI were as in my boyhood, and could be

The impulse of thy strength, only less free

Than thou, O, uncontrollable! If even

I were as in my boyhood, and could be

The comrade of thy wanderings over heaven,As then, when to outstrip thy skiey speedScarce seemed a vision; I would ne'er have striven

The comrade of thy wanderings over heaven,

As then, when to outstrip thy skiey speed

Scarce seemed a vision; I would ne'er have striven

As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.Oh! lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!

As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.

Oh! lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!

I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!

A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowedOne too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud.

A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed

One too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud.

Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:What if my leaves are falling like its own!The tumult of thy mighty harmonies

Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:

What if my leaves are falling like its own!

The tumult of thy mighty harmonies

Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, spirit fierce,My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!

Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,

Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, spirit fierce,

My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!

Drive my dead thoughts over the universeLike withered leaves to quicken a new birth!And, by the incantation of this verse,

Drive my dead thoughts over the universe

Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!

And, by the incantation of this verse,

Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearthAshes and sparks, my words among mankind!Be through my lips to unawakened earth

Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth

Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!

Be through my lips to unawakened earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O, wind,If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?Percy Bysshe Shelley

The trumpet of a prophecy! O, wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

Percy Bysshe Shelley

243

THAT WINDThat wind, I used to hear it swelling;With joy divinely deep;You might have seen my hot tears welling,But rapture made me weep.I used to love on winter nightsTo lie and dream aloneOf all the rare and real delightsMy lonely years had known;And oh!—above the best—of thoseThat coming time should bear,Like heaven's own glorious stars they rose,Still beaming bright and fair.Emily Brontë

That wind, I used to hear it swelling;With joy divinely deep;You might have seen my hot tears welling,But rapture made me weep.I used to love on winter nightsTo lie and dream aloneOf all the rare and real delightsMy lonely years had known;And oh!—above the best—of thoseThat coming time should bear,Like heaven's own glorious stars they rose,Still beaming bright and fair.Emily Brontë

That wind, I used to hear it swelling;With joy divinely deep;You might have seen my hot tears welling,But rapture made me weep.

That wind, I used to hear it swelling;

With joy divinely deep;

You might have seen my hot tears welling,

But rapture made me weep.

I used to love on winter nightsTo lie and dream aloneOf all the rare and real delightsMy lonely years had known;

I used to love on winter nights

To lie and dream alone

Of all the rare and real delights

My lonely years had known;

And oh!—above the best—of thoseThat coming time should bear,Like heaven's own glorious stars they rose,Still beaming bright and fair.Emily Brontë

And oh!—above the best—of those

That coming time should bear,

Like heaven's own glorious stars they rose,

Still beaming bright and fair.

Emily Brontë

244

A FROSTY NIGHTMother.Alice, dear, what ails you,Dazed and white and shaken?Has the chill night numbed you?Is it fright you have taken?Alice.Mother, I am very well,I felt never better;Mother, do not hold me so,Let me write my letter.Mother.Sweet, my dear, what ails you?Alice.No, but I am well.The night was cold and frosty,There's no more to tell.Mother.Ay, the night was frosty,Coldly gaped the moon,Yet the birds seemed twitteringThrough green boughs of June.Soft and thick the snow lay,Stars danced in the sky,Not all the lambs of May-daySkip so bold and high.Your feet were dancing, Alice,Seemed to dance on air,You looked a ghost or angelIn the starlight there.Your eyes were frosted starlight,Your heart, fire, and snow.Who was it said "I love you?"Alice.Mother, let me go!Robert Graves

Mother.Alice, dear, what ails you,Dazed and white and shaken?Has the chill night numbed you?Is it fright you have taken?Alice.Mother, I am very well,I felt never better;Mother, do not hold me so,Let me write my letter.Mother.Sweet, my dear, what ails you?Alice.No, but I am well.The night was cold and frosty,There's no more to tell.Mother.Ay, the night was frosty,Coldly gaped the moon,Yet the birds seemed twitteringThrough green boughs of June.Soft and thick the snow lay,Stars danced in the sky,Not all the lambs of May-daySkip so bold and high.Your feet were dancing, Alice,Seemed to dance on air,You looked a ghost or angelIn the starlight there.Your eyes were frosted starlight,Your heart, fire, and snow.Who was it said "I love you?"Alice.Mother, let me go!Robert Graves

Mother.Alice, dear, what ails you,Dazed and white and shaken?Has the chill night numbed you?Is it fright you have taken?

Mother.Alice, dear, what ails you,

Dazed and white and shaken?

Has the chill night numbed you?

Is it fright you have taken?

Alice.Mother, I am very well,I felt never better;Mother, do not hold me so,Let me write my letter.

Alice.Mother, I am very well,

I felt never better;

Mother, do not hold me so,

Let me write my letter.

Mother.Sweet, my dear, what ails you?Alice.No, but I am well.The night was cold and frosty,There's no more to tell.

Mother.Sweet, my dear, what ails you?

Alice.No, but I am well.

The night was cold and frosty,

There's no more to tell.

Mother.Ay, the night was frosty,Coldly gaped the moon,Yet the birds seemed twitteringThrough green boughs of June.

Mother.Ay, the night was frosty,

Coldly gaped the moon,

Yet the birds seemed twittering

Through green boughs of June.

Soft and thick the snow lay,Stars danced in the sky,Not all the lambs of May-daySkip so bold and high.

Soft and thick the snow lay,

Stars danced in the sky,

Not all the lambs of May-day

Skip so bold and high.

Your feet were dancing, Alice,Seemed to dance on air,You looked a ghost or angelIn the starlight there.

Your feet were dancing, Alice,

Seemed to dance on air,

You looked a ghost or angel

In the starlight there.

Your eyes were frosted starlight,Your heart, fire, and snow.Who was it said "I love you?"Alice.Mother, let me go!Robert Graves

Your eyes were frosted starlight,

Your heart, fire, and snow.

Who was it said "I love you?"

Alice.Mother, let me go!

Robert Graves

245

IN A DREAR-NIGHTED DECEMBERIn a drear-nighted December,Too happy, happy tree,Thy branches ne'er rememberTheir green felicity:The north cannot undo themWith a sleety whistle through them;Nor frozen thawings glue themFrom budding at the prime.In a drear-nighted December,Too happy, happy brook,Thy bubblings ne'er rememberApollo's summer look;But with a sweet forgetting,They stay their crystal fretting,Never, never pettingAbout the frozen time.Ah! would 'twere so with manyA gentle girl and boy!But were there ever anyWrithed not at passèd joy?To know the change and feel it,When there is none to heal itNor numbèd sense to steal it,Was never said in rhyme.John Keats

In a drear-nighted December,Too happy, happy tree,Thy branches ne'er rememberTheir green felicity:The north cannot undo themWith a sleety whistle through them;Nor frozen thawings glue themFrom budding at the prime.In a drear-nighted December,Too happy, happy brook,Thy bubblings ne'er rememberApollo's summer look;But with a sweet forgetting,They stay their crystal fretting,Never, never pettingAbout the frozen time.Ah! would 'twere so with manyA gentle girl and boy!But were there ever anyWrithed not at passèd joy?To know the change and feel it,When there is none to heal itNor numbèd sense to steal it,Was never said in rhyme.John Keats

In a drear-nighted December,

Too happy, happy tree,

Thy branches ne'er remember

Their green felicity:

The north cannot undo them

With a sleety whistle through them;

Nor frozen thawings glue them

From budding at the prime.

In a drear-nighted December,Too happy, happy brook,Thy bubblings ne'er rememberApollo's summer look;But with a sweet forgetting,They stay their crystal fretting,Never, never pettingAbout the frozen time.

In a drear-nighted December,

Too happy, happy brook,

Thy bubblings ne'er remember

Apollo's summer look;

But with a sweet forgetting,

They stay their crystal fretting,

Never, never petting

About the frozen time.

Ah! would 'twere so with manyA gentle girl and boy!But were there ever anyWrithed not at passèd joy?To know the change and feel it,When there is none to heal itNor numbèd sense to steal it,Was never said in rhyme.John Keats

Ah! would 'twere so with many

A gentle girl and boy!

But were there ever any

Writhed not at passèd joy?

To know the change and feel it,

When there is none to heal it

Nor numbèd sense to steal it,

Was never said in rhyme.

John Keats

246

A SONG OF WINTERCold cold!Cold to-night is broad Moylurg,Higher the snow than the mountain-range,The deer cannot get at their food.Cold till Doom!The storm has spread over all:A river is each furrow upon the slope,Each ford a full pool.A great tidal sea is each loch,A full loch is each pool:Horses cannot get over the ford of Ross,No more can two feet get there.The fish of Ireland are a-roaming,There is no strand which the wave does not pound,Not a town there is in the land,Not a bell is heard, no crane talks.The wolves of Cuan-wood getNeither rest nor sleep in their lair,The little wren cannot findShelter in her nest on the slope of Lon.Keen wind and cold iceHas burst upon the little company of birds,The blackbird cannot get a lee to her liking,Shelter for its side in Cuan-wood.Cosy our pot on its hook,Crazy the hut on the slope of Lon:The snow has crushed the wood here,Toilsome to climb up Ben-bo.Glenn Rye's ancient birdFrom the bitter wind gets grief;Great her misery and her pain,The ice will get into her mouth.From flock and from down to rise—Take it to heart!—were folly for thee;Ice in heaps on every ford—That is why I say "cold"!

Cold cold!Cold to-night is broad Moylurg,Higher the snow than the mountain-range,The deer cannot get at their food.Cold till Doom!The storm has spread over all:A river is each furrow upon the slope,Each ford a full pool.A great tidal sea is each loch,A full loch is each pool:Horses cannot get over the ford of Ross,No more can two feet get there.The fish of Ireland are a-roaming,There is no strand which the wave does not pound,Not a town there is in the land,Not a bell is heard, no crane talks.The wolves of Cuan-wood getNeither rest nor sleep in their lair,The little wren cannot findShelter in her nest on the slope of Lon.Keen wind and cold iceHas burst upon the little company of birds,The blackbird cannot get a lee to her liking,Shelter for its side in Cuan-wood.Cosy our pot on its hook,Crazy the hut on the slope of Lon:The snow has crushed the wood here,Toilsome to climb up Ben-bo.Glenn Rye's ancient birdFrom the bitter wind gets grief;Great her misery and her pain,The ice will get into her mouth.From flock and from down to rise—Take it to heart!—were folly for thee;Ice in heaps on every ford—That is why I say "cold"!

Cold cold!Cold to-night is broad Moylurg,Higher the snow than the mountain-range,The deer cannot get at their food.

Cold cold!

Cold to-night is broad Moylurg,

Higher the snow than the mountain-range,

The deer cannot get at their food.

Cold till Doom!The storm has spread over all:A river is each furrow upon the slope,Each ford a full pool.

Cold till Doom!

The storm has spread over all:

A river is each furrow upon the slope,

Each ford a full pool.

A great tidal sea is each loch,A full loch is each pool:Horses cannot get over the ford of Ross,No more can two feet get there.

A great tidal sea is each loch,

A full loch is each pool:

Horses cannot get over the ford of Ross,

No more can two feet get there.

The fish of Ireland are a-roaming,There is no strand which the wave does not pound,Not a town there is in the land,Not a bell is heard, no crane talks.

The fish of Ireland are a-roaming,

There is no strand which the wave does not pound,

Not a town there is in the land,

Not a bell is heard, no crane talks.

The wolves of Cuan-wood getNeither rest nor sleep in their lair,The little wren cannot findShelter in her nest on the slope of Lon.

The wolves of Cuan-wood get

Neither rest nor sleep in their lair,

The little wren cannot find

Shelter in her nest on the slope of Lon.

Keen wind and cold iceHas burst upon the little company of birds,The blackbird cannot get a lee to her liking,Shelter for its side in Cuan-wood.

Keen wind and cold ice

Has burst upon the little company of birds,

The blackbird cannot get a lee to her liking,

Shelter for its side in Cuan-wood.

Cosy our pot on its hook,Crazy the hut on the slope of Lon:The snow has crushed the wood here,Toilsome to climb up Ben-bo.

Cosy our pot on its hook,

Crazy the hut on the slope of Lon:

The snow has crushed the wood here,

Toilsome to climb up Ben-bo.

Glenn Rye's ancient birdFrom the bitter wind gets grief;Great her misery and her pain,The ice will get into her mouth.

Glenn Rye's ancient bird

From the bitter wind gets grief;

Great her misery and her pain,

The ice will get into her mouth.

From flock and from down to rise—Take it to heart!—were folly for thee;Ice in heaps on every ford—That is why I say "cold"!

From flock and from down to rise—

Take it to heart!—were folly for thee;

Ice in heaps on every ford—

That is why I say "cold"!

247

COLD BLOWS THE WINDCauld blows the wind frae north to south,And drift is driving sairly;The sheep are couring[97]in the heugh,[98]Oh sirs! it's winter fairly.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;I'd rather gae supperless to my bed,Than rise in the morning early.Loud rairs the blast amang the woods,The branches tirling barely,Amang the chimley taps it thuds,And frost is nippin sairly.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;To sit a' the night I'd rather agree,Than rise in the morning early.The sun peeps o'er the southlan' hill,Like ony tim'rous carlie[99];Just blinks a wee, then sinks again,And that we find severely.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;When snaw blaws into the chimley cheek,Wha'd rise in the morning early.Nae linties[100]lilt on hedge or bush,Poor things, they suffer sairly;In cauldrife[101]quarters a' the night,A' day they feed but sparely.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;Nae fate can be waur,[102]in winter time,Than rise in the morning early.John Hamilton

Cauld blows the wind frae north to south,And drift is driving sairly;The sheep are couring[97]in the heugh,[98]Oh sirs! it's winter fairly.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;I'd rather gae supperless to my bed,Than rise in the morning early.Loud rairs the blast amang the woods,The branches tirling barely,Amang the chimley taps it thuds,And frost is nippin sairly.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;To sit a' the night I'd rather agree,Than rise in the morning early.The sun peeps o'er the southlan' hill,Like ony tim'rous carlie[99];Just blinks a wee, then sinks again,And that we find severely.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;When snaw blaws into the chimley cheek,Wha'd rise in the morning early.Nae linties[100]lilt on hedge or bush,Poor things, they suffer sairly;In cauldrife[101]quarters a' the night,A' day they feed but sparely.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;Nae fate can be waur,[102]in winter time,Than rise in the morning early.John Hamilton

Cauld blows the wind frae north to south,

And drift is driving sairly;

The sheep are couring[97]in the heugh,[98]

Oh sirs! it's winter fairly.

Now up in the morning's no' for me,

Up in the morning early;

I'd rather gae supperless to my bed,

Than rise in the morning early.

Loud rairs the blast amang the woods,The branches tirling barely,Amang the chimley taps it thuds,And frost is nippin sairly.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;To sit a' the night I'd rather agree,Than rise in the morning early.

Loud rairs the blast amang the woods,

The branches tirling barely,

Amang the chimley taps it thuds,

And frost is nippin sairly.

Now up in the morning's no' for me,

Up in the morning early;

To sit a' the night I'd rather agree,

Than rise in the morning early.

The sun peeps o'er the southlan' hill,Like ony tim'rous carlie[99];Just blinks a wee, then sinks again,And that we find severely.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;When snaw blaws into the chimley cheek,Wha'd rise in the morning early.

The sun peeps o'er the southlan' hill,

Like ony tim'rous carlie[99];

Just blinks a wee, then sinks again,

And that we find severely.

Now up in the morning's no' for me,

Up in the morning early;

When snaw blaws into the chimley cheek,

Wha'd rise in the morning early.

Nae linties[100]lilt on hedge or bush,Poor things, they suffer sairly;In cauldrife[101]quarters a' the night,A' day they feed but sparely.Now up in the morning's no' for me,Up in the morning early;Nae fate can be waur,[102]in winter time,Than rise in the morning early.John Hamilton

Nae linties[100]lilt on hedge or bush,

Poor things, they suffer sairly;

In cauldrife[101]quarters a' the night,

A' day they feed but sparely.

Now up in the morning's no' for me,

Up in the morning early;

Nae fate can be waur,[102]in winter time,

Than rise in the morning early.

John Hamilton

248

SKATING... So through the darkness and the cold we flew,And not a voice was idle; with the dinSmitten, the precipices rang aloud;The leafless trees and every icy cragTinkled like iron; while far distant hillsInto the tumult sent an alien soundOf melancholy not unnoticed, while the starsEastward were sparkling clear, and in the westThe orange sky of evening died away.Not seldom from the uproar I retiredInto a silent bay, or sportivelyGlanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng,To cut across the reflex of a starThat fled, and, flying still before me, gleamedUpon the glassy plain; and oftentimes,When we had given our bodies to the wind,And all the shadowy banks on either sideCame sweeping through the darkness, spinning stillIn rapid line of motion, then at onceHave I, reclining back upon my heels,Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffsWheeled by me—even as if the earth had rolledWith visible motion her diurnal round!Behind me did they stretch in solemn train,Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watchedTill all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep....William Wordsworth

... So through the darkness and the cold we flew,And not a voice was idle; with the dinSmitten, the precipices rang aloud;The leafless trees and every icy cragTinkled like iron; while far distant hillsInto the tumult sent an alien soundOf melancholy not unnoticed, while the starsEastward were sparkling clear, and in the westThe orange sky of evening died away.Not seldom from the uproar I retiredInto a silent bay, or sportivelyGlanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng,To cut across the reflex of a starThat fled, and, flying still before me, gleamedUpon the glassy plain; and oftentimes,When we had given our bodies to the wind,And all the shadowy banks on either sideCame sweeping through the darkness, spinning stillIn rapid line of motion, then at onceHave I, reclining back upon my heels,Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffsWheeled by me—even as if the earth had rolledWith visible motion her diurnal round!Behind me did they stretch in solemn train,Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watchedTill all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep....William Wordsworth

... So through the darkness and the cold we flew,

And not a voice was idle; with the din

Smitten, the precipices rang aloud;

The leafless trees and every icy crag

Tinkled like iron; while far distant hills

Into the tumult sent an alien sound

Of melancholy not unnoticed, while the stars

Eastward were sparkling clear, and in the west

The orange sky of evening died away.

Not seldom from the uproar I retired

Into a silent bay, or sportively

Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng,

To cut across the reflex of a star

That fled, and, flying still before me, gleamed

Upon the glassy plain; and oftentimes,

When we had given our bodies to the wind,

And all the shadowy banks on either side

Came sweeping through the darkness, spinning still

In rapid line of motion, then at once

Have I, reclining back upon my heels,

Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffs

Wheeled by me—even as if the earth had rolled

With visible motion her diurnal round!

Behind me did they stretch in solemn train,

Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watched

Till all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep....

William Wordsworth

249

LONDON SNOWWhen men were all asleep the snow came flying,In large white flakes falling on the city brown,Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying,Hushing the latest traffic of the drowsy town;Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing;Lazily and incessantly floating down and down:Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing;Hiding difference, making unevenness even,Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing.All night it fell, and when full inches sevenIt lay in the depth of its uncompacted lightness,The clouds blew off from a high and frosty heaven;And all woke earlier for the unaccustomed brightnessOf the winter dawning, the strange unheavenly glare:The eye marvelled—marvelled at the dazzling whiteness;The ear hearkened to the stillness of the solemn air;No sound of wheel rumbling nor of foot falling,And the busy morning cries came thin and spare.Then boys I heard, as they went to school, calling,They gathered up the crystal manna to freezeTheir tongues with tasting, their hands with snowballing;Or rioted in a drift, plunging up to the knees;Or peering up from under the white-mossed wonder,"O look at the trees!" they cried, "O look at the trees!"With lessened load a few carts creak and blunder,Following along the white deserted way,A country company long dispersed asunder:When now already the sun, in pale displayStanding by Paul's high dome, spread forth belowHis sparkling beams, and awoke the stir of the day.For now doors open, and war is waged with the snow;And trains of sombre men, past tale of number,Tread long brown paths, as toward their toil they go:But even for them awhile no cares encumberTheir minds diverted; the daily word is unspoken,The daily thoughts of labour and sorrow slumberAt the sight of the beauty that greets them, for the charm they have broken.Robert Bridges

When men were all asleep the snow came flying,In large white flakes falling on the city brown,Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying,Hushing the latest traffic of the drowsy town;Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing;Lazily and incessantly floating down and down:Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing;Hiding difference, making unevenness even,Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing.All night it fell, and when full inches sevenIt lay in the depth of its uncompacted lightness,The clouds blew off from a high and frosty heaven;And all woke earlier for the unaccustomed brightnessOf the winter dawning, the strange unheavenly glare:The eye marvelled—marvelled at the dazzling whiteness;The ear hearkened to the stillness of the solemn air;No sound of wheel rumbling nor of foot falling,And the busy morning cries came thin and spare.Then boys I heard, as they went to school, calling,They gathered up the crystal manna to freezeTheir tongues with tasting, their hands with snowballing;Or rioted in a drift, plunging up to the knees;Or peering up from under the white-mossed wonder,"O look at the trees!" they cried, "O look at the trees!"With lessened load a few carts creak and blunder,Following along the white deserted way,A country company long dispersed asunder:When now already the sun, in pale displayStanding by Paul's high dome, spread forth belowHis sparkling beams, and awoke the stir of the day.For now doors open, and war is waged with the snow;And trains of sombre men, past tale of number,Tread long brown paths, as toward their toil they go:But even for them awhile no cares encumberTheir minds diverted; the daily word is unspoken,The daily thoughts of labour and sorrow slumberAt the sight of the beauty that greets them, for the charm they have broken.Robert Bridges

When men were all asleep the snow came flying,

In large white flakes falling on the city brown,

Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying,

Hushing the latest traffic of the drowsy town;

Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing;

Lazily and incessantly floating down and down:

Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing;

Hiding difference, making unevenness even,

Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing.

All night it fell, and when full inches seven

It lay in the depth of its uncompacted lightness,

The clouds blew off from a high and frosty heaven;

And all woke earlier for the unaccustomed brightness

Of the winter dawning, the strange unheavenly glare:

The eye marvelled—marvelled at the dazzling whiteness;

The ear hearkened to the stillness of the solemn air;

No sound of wheel rumbling nor of foot falling,

And the busy morning cries came thin and spare.

Then boys I heard, as they went to school, calling,

They gathered up the crystal manna to freeze

Their tongues with tasting, their hands with snowballing;

Or rioted in a drift, plunging up to the knees;

Or peering up from under the white-mossed wonder,

"O look at the trees!" they cried, "O look at the trees!"

With lessened load a few carts creak and blunder,

Following along the white deserted way,

A country company long dispersed asunder:

When now already the sun, in pale display

Standing by Paul's high dome, spread forth below

His sparkling beams, and awoke the stir of the day.

For now doors open, and war is waged with the snow;

And trains of sombre men, past tale of number,

Tread long brown paths, as toward their toil they go:

But even for them awhile no cares encumber

Their minds diverted; the daily word is unspoken,

The daily thoughts of labour and sorrow slumber

At the sight of the beauty that greets them, for the charm they have broken.

Robert Bridges

250

FOR SNOWOh the falling Snow!Oh the falling Snow!Where does it all come from?Whither does it go?Never never laughing,Never never weeping,Falling in its Sleep,Forever ever sleeping—From what Sleep of HeavenDoes it flow, and goInto what Sleep of Earth,The falling falling Snow?Eleanor Farjeon

Oh the falling Snow!Oh the falling Snow!Where does it all come from?Whither does it go?Never never laughing,Never never weeping,Falling in its Sleep,Forever ever sleeping—From what Sleep of HeavenDoes it flow, and goInto what Sleep of Earth,The falling falling Snow?Eleanor Farjeon

Oh the falling Snow!

Where does it all come from?

Whither does it go?

Never never laughing,

Never never weeping,

Falling in its Sleep,

Forever ever sleeping—

From what Sleep of Heaven

Does it flow, and go

Into what Sleep of Earth,

The falling falling Snow?

Eleanor Farjeon

251

VELVET SHOESLet us walk in the white snowIn a soundless space;With footsteps quiet and slow,At a tranquil pace,Under veils of white lace.I shall go shod in silk,And you in wool,White as a white cow's milk,More beautifulThan the breast of a gull.We shall walk through the still townIn a windless peace;We shall step upon white down,Upon silver fleece,Upon softer than these.We shall walk in velvet shoes:Wherever we goSilence will fall like dewsOn white silence below.We shall walk in the snow.Elinor Wylie

Let us walk in the white snowIn a soundless space;With footsteps quiet and slow,At a tranquil pace,Under veils of white lace.I shall go shod in silk,And you in wool,White as a white cow's milk,More beautifulThan the breast of a gull.We shall walk through the still townIn a windless peace;We shall step upon white down,Upon silver fleece,Upon softer than these.We shall walk in velvet shoes:Wherever we goSilence will fall like dewsOn white silence below.We shall walk in the snow.Elinor Wylie

Let us walk in the white snowIn a soundless space;With footsteps quiet and slow,At a tranquil pace,Under veils of white lace.

Let us walk in the white snow

In a soundless space;

With footsteps quiet and slow,

At a tranquil pace,

Under veils of white lace.

I shall go shod in silk,And you in wool,White as a white cow's milk,More beautifulThan the breast of a gull.

I shall go shod in silk,

And you in wool,

White as a white cow's milk,

More beautiful

Than the breast of a gull.

We shall walk through the still townIn a windless peace;We shall step upon white down,Upon silver fleece,Upon softer than these.

We shall walk through the still town

In a windless peace;

We shall step upon white down,

Upon silver fleece,

Upon softer than these.

We shall walk in velvet shoes:Wherever we goSilence will fall like dewsOn white silence below.We shall walk in the snow.Elinor Wylie

We shall walk in velvet shoes:

Wherever we go

Silence will fall like dews

On white silence below.

We shall walk in the snow.

Elinor Wylie

252

LUCY GRAYOft I had heard of Lucy Gray:And when I crossed the wild,I chanced to see at break of dayThe solitary child.No mate, no comrade Lucy knew;She dwelt on a wide moor,The sweetest thing that ever grewBeside a human door!You yet may spy the fawn at play,The hare upon the green;But the sweet face of Lucy GrayWill never more be seen."To-night will be a stormy night—You to the town must go;And take a lantern, Child, to lightYour mother through the snow.""That, Father! will I gladly do:'Tis scarcely afternoon—The minster-clock has just struck two,And yonder is the moon!"At this the father raised his hook,And snapped a faggot-band;He plied his work;—and Lucy tookThe lantern in her hand.Not blither is the mountain roe:With many a wanton strokeHer feet disperse the powdery snow,That rises up like smoke.The storm came on before its time:She wandered up and down;And many a hill did Lucy climb:But never reached the town.The wretched parents all that nightWent shouting far and wide;But there was neither sound nor sightTo serve them for a guide.At day-break on a hill they stoodThat overlook'd the moor;And thence they saw the bridge of woodA furlong from their door.They wept—and, turning homeward, cried"In heaven we all shall meet!"—When in the snow the mother spiedThe print of Lucy's feet.Then downwards from the steep hill's edgeThey tracked the footmarks small;And through the broken hawthorn hedge,And by the long stone-wall:And then an open field they crossed,The marks were still the same;They tracked them on, nor ever lost;And to the bridge they came:They followed from the snowy bankThose footmarks, one by one,Into the middle of the plank;And further there were none!—Yet some maintain that to this dayShe is a living child;That you may see sweet Lucy GrayUpon the lonesome wild.O'er rough and smooth she trips along,And never looks behind;And sings a solitary songThat whistles in the wind.William Wordsworth

Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray:And when I crossed the wild,I chanced to see at break of dayThe solitary child.No mate, no comrade Lucy knew;She dwelt on a wide moor,The sweetest thing that ever grewBeside a human door!You yet may spy the fawn at play,The hare upon the green;But the sweet face of Lucy GrayWill never more be seen."To-night will be a stormy night—You to the town must go;And take a lantern, Child, to lightYour mother through the snow.""That, Father! will I gladly do:'Tis scarcely afternoon—The minster-clock has just struck two,And yonder is the moon!"At this the father raised his hook,And snapped a faggot-band;He plied his work;—and Lucy tookThe lantern in her hand.Not blither is the mountain roe:With many a wanton strokeHer feet disperse the powdery snow,That rises up like smoke.The storm came on before its time:She wandered up and down;And many a hill did Lucy climb:But never reached the town.The wretched parents all that nightWent shouting far and wide;But there was neither sound nor sightTo serve them for a guide.At day-break on a hill they stoodThat overlook'd the moor;And thence they saw the bridge of woodA furlong from their door.They wept—and, turning homeward, cried"In heaven we all shall meet!"—When in the snow the mother spiedThe print of Lucy's feet.Then downwards from the steep hill's edgeThey tracked the footmarks small;And through the broken hawthorn hedge,And by the long stone-wall:And then an open field they crossed,The marks were still the same;They tracked them on, nor ever lost;And to the bridge they came:They followed from the snowy bankThose footmarks, one by one,Into the middle of the plank;And further there were none!—Yet some maintain that to this dayShe is a living child;That you may see sweet Lucy GrayUpon the lonesome wild.O'er rough and smooth she trips along,And never looks behind;And sings a solitary songThat whistles in the wind.William Wordsworth

Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray:And when I crossed the wild,I chanced to see at break of dayThe solitary child.

Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray:

And when I crossed the wild,

I chanced to see at break of day

The solitary child.

No mate, no comrade Lucy knew;She dwelt on a wide moor,The sweetest thing that ever grewBeside a human door!

No mate, no comrade Lucy knew;

She dwelt on a wide moor,

The sweetest thing that ever grew

Beside a human door!

You yet may spy the fawn at play,The hare upon the green;But the sweet face of Lucy GrayWill never more be seen.

You yet may spy the fawn at play,

The hare upon the green;

But the sweet face of Lucy Gray

Will never more be seen.

"To-night will be a stormy night—You to the town must go;And take a lantern, Child, to lightYour mother through the snow."

"To-night will be a stormy night—

You to the town must go;

And take a lantern, Child, to light

Your mother through the snow."

"That, Father! will I gladly do:'Tis scarcely afternoon—The minster-clock has just struck two,And yonder is the moon!"

"That, Father! will I gladly do:

'Tis scarcely afternoon—

The minster-clock has just struck two,

And yonder is the moon!"

At this the father raised his hook,And snapped a faggot-band;He plied his work;—and Lucy tookThe lantern in her hand.

At this the father raised his hook,

And snapped a faggot-band;

He plied his work;—and Lucy took

The lantern in her hand.

Not blither is the mountain roe:With many a wanton strokeHer feet disperse the powdery snow,That rises up like smoke.

Not blither is the mountain roe:

With many a wanton stroke

Her feet disperse the powdery snow,

That rises up like smoke.

The storm came on before its time:She wandered up and down;And many a hill did Lucy climb:But never reached the town.

The storm came on before its time:

She wandered up and down;

And many a hill did Lucy climb:

But never reached the town.

The wretched parents all that nightWent shouting far and wide;But there was neither sound nor sightTo serve them for a guide.

The wretched parents all that night

Went shouting far and wide;

But there was neither sound nor sight

To serve them for a guide.

At day-break on a hill they stoodThat overlook'd the moor;And thence they saw the bridge of woodA furlong from their door.

At day-break on a hill they stood

That overlook'd the moor;

And thence they saw the bridge of wood

A furlong from their door.

They wept—and, turning homeward, cried"In heaven we all shall meet!"—When in the snow the mother spiedThe print of Lucy's feet.

They wept—and, turning homeward, cried

"In heaven we all shall meet!"

—When in the snow the mother spied

The print of Lucy's feet.

Then downwards from the steep hill's edgeThey tracked the footmarks small;And through the broken hawthorn hedge,And by the long stone-wall:

Then downwards from the steep hill's edge

They tracked the footmarks small;

And through the broken hawthorn hedge,

And by the long stone-wall:

And then an open field they crossed,The marks were still the same;They tracked them on, nor ever lost;And to the bridge they came:

And then an open field they crossed,

The marks were still the same;

They tracked them on, nor ever lost;

And to the bridge they came:

They followed from the snowy bankThose footmarks, one by one,Into the middle of the plank;And further there were none!

They followed from the snowy bank

Those footmarks, one by one,

Into the middle of the plank;

And further there were none!

—Yet some maintain that to this dayShe is a living child;That you may see sweet Lucy GrayUpon the lonesome wild.

—Yet some maintain that to this day

She is a living child;

That you may see sweet Lucy Gray

Upon the lonesome wild.

O'er rough and smooth she trips along,And never looks behind;And sings a solitary songThat whistles in the wind.William Wordsworth

O'er rough and smooth she trips along,

And never looks behind;

And sings a solitary song

That whistles in the wind.

William Wordsworth

253

GONE WERE BUT THE WINTER COLD"Gane were but the winter cauld,And gane were but the snaw,I could sleep in the wild woods,Where primroses blaw."Cauld's the snaw at my head,And cauld at my feet,And the finger o' death is at my e'enClosing them to sleep,"Let nane tell my father,Or my mither sae dear;I'll meet them baith in heavenAt the Spring o' the year."Allan Cunningham

"Gane were but the winter cauld,And gane were but the snaw,I could sleep in the wild woods,Where primroses blaw."Cauld's the snaw at my head,And cauld at my feet,And the finger o' death is at my e'enClosing them to sleep,"Let nane tell my father,Or my mither sae dear;I'll meet them baith in heavenAt the Spring o' the year."Allan Cunningham

"Gane were but the winter cauld,And gane were but the snaw,I could sleep in the wild woods,Where primroses blaw.

"Gane were but the winter cauld,

And gane were but the snaw,

I could sleep in the wild woods,

Where primroses blaw.

"Cauld's the snaw at my head,And cauld at my feet,And the finger o' death is at my e'enClosing them to sleep,

"Cauld's the snaw at my head,

And cauld at my feet,

And the finger o' death is at my e'en

Closing them to sleep,

"Let nane tell my father,Or my mither sae dear;I'll meet them baith in heavenAt the Spring o' the year."Allan Cunningham

"Let nane tell my father,

Or my mither sae dear;

I'll meet them baith in heaven

At the Spring o' the year."

Allan Cunningham

254

A CHILD'S WINTER EVENINGThe smothering dark engulfs relentlesslyWith nightmare tread approaching steadfastly;All horrors thicken as the daylight failsAnd, is it wind, or some lost ghost that wails?Tongue cannot tell the stories that beset,With livid pictures blackness dense as jet,Or that wild questioning—whence we are; and why;If death is darkness; and why I am I.The children look through the uneven paneOut to the world, to bring them joy again;But only snowflakes melting into mireWithout, within the red glow of the fire.They long for something wonderful to breakThis long-drawn winter wistfulness, and takeShape in the darkness; threatening like FateThere comes a hell-like crackling from the grate.But hand in hand they urge themselves anearAnd watch the cities burning bright and clear;Faces diabolical and cliffs and hallsAnd strangely-pinnacled, molten castle walls.Tall figures flicker on the ceiling starkThen grimly fade into one ominous dark;Dream terrors iron-bound throng on them apace,And dusk with fire, and flames with shadows race.Gwen John

The smothering dark engulfs relentlesslyWith nightmare tread approaching steadfastly;All horrors thicken as the daylight failsAnd, is it wind, or some lost ghost that wails?Tongue cannot tell the stories that beset,With livid pictures blackness dense as jet,Or that wild questioning—whence we are; and why;If death is darkness; and why I am I.The children look through the uneven paneOut to the world, to bring them joy again;But only snowflakes melting into mireWithout, within the red glow of the fire.They long for something wonderful to breakThis long-drawn winter wistfulness, and takeShape in the darkness; threatening like FateThere comes a hell-like crackling from the grate.But hand in hand they urge themselves anearAnd watch the cities burning bright and clear;Faces diabolical and cliffs and hallsAnd strangely-pinnacled, molten castle walls.Tall figures flicker on the ceiling starkThen grimly fade into one ominous dark;Dream terrors iron-bound throng on them apace,And dusk with fire, and flames with shadows race.Gwen John

The smothering dark engulfs relentlesslyWith nightmare tread approaching steadfastly;All horrors thicken as the daylight failsAnd, is it wind, or some lost ghost that wails?

The smothering dark engulfs relentlessly

With nightmare tread approaching steadfastly;

All horrors thicken as the daylight fails

And, is it wind, or some lost ghost that wails?

Tongue cannot tell the stories that beset,With livid pictures blackness dense as jet,Or that wild questioning—whence we are; and why;If death is darkness; and why I am I.

Tongue cannot tell the stories that beset,

With livid pictures blackness dense as jet,

Or that wild questioning—whence we are; and why;

If death is darkness; and why I am I.

The children look through the uneven paneOut to the world, to bring them joy again;But only snowflakes melting into mireWithout, within the red glow of the fire.

The children look through the uneven pane

Out to the world, to bring them joy again;

But only snowflakes melting into mire

Without, within the red glow of the fire.

They long for something wonderful to breakThis long-drawn winter wistfulness, and takeShape in the darkness; threatening like FateThere comes a hell-like crackling from the grate.

They long for something wonderful to break

This long-drawn winter wistfulness, and take

Shape in the darkness; threatening like Fate

There comes a hell-like crackling from the grate.

But hand in hand they urge themselves anearAnd watch the cities burning bright and clear;Faces diabolical and cliffs and hallsAnd strangely-pinnacled, molten castle walls.

But hand in hand they urge themselves anear

And watch the cities burning bright and clear;

Faces diabolical and cliffs and halls

And strangely-pinnacled, molten castle walls.

Tall figures flicker on the ceiling starkThen grimly fade into one ominous dark;Dream terrors iron-bound throng on them apace,And dusk with fire, and flames with shadows race.Gwen John

Tall figures flicker on the ceiling stark

Then grimly fade into one ominous dark;

Dream terrors iron-bound throng on them apace,

And dusk with fire, and flames with shadows race.

Gwen John

255

A CAROL FOR SAINT STEPHEN'S DAYSeynt Stevene was a clerk,In kyng Herowdės halle,And servyd him of bred and cloth,As every kyng befalle.Stevyn out of Kechoun cam,Wyth boris bed on honde,He saw a sterr was fayr and bryghtOver Bedlem stonde.He kyst adoun the bores hed,And went into the halle:"I forsake the, kyng Herowde,And thi werkės alle."I forsak the, kyng Herowde,And thi werkės alle:Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,Is better than we alle.""Quhat eylyt the, Stevene?Quhat is the befalle?Lakkyt the eyther mete or drynkIn kyng Herowdės halle?""Lakyt me neyther mete ne drynkIn kyng Herowdės halle;Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,Is better than we alle.""Quhat eylyt the, Stevyn, art thu wod?Or thu gynnyst to brede?Lakyt the eyther gold or fe,Or ony rychė wede?""Lakyt me neyther gold ne fe,Ne non rychė wede;Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,Shal helpyn us at our nede.""That is al so soth, Stevyn,Al so soth, I wys,As this capon crowė schelThat lyth her in myn dych."That word was not so sonė seyd,That wordė in that halle,The capon crew,Christus natus est!Among the lordės alle."Rysyt up, myn túrmentowresBe to and al be on,And ledyt Stevyn out of this town,And stonyt hym wyth ston."Tokyn hem Stevene,And stonyd hym in the way:And therfor is his evynOn Crystės owyn day.

Seynt Stevene was a clerk,In kyng Herowdės halle,And servyd him of bred and cloth,As every kyng befalle.Stevyn out of Kechoun cam,Wyth boris bed on honde,He saw a sterr was fayr and bryghtOver Bedlem stonde.He kyst adoun the bores hed,And went into the halle:"I forsake the, kyng Herowde,And thi werkės alle."I forsak the, kyng Herowde,And thi werkės alle:Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,Is better than we alle.""Quhat eylyt the, Stevene?Quhat is the befalle?Lakkyt the eyther mete or drynkIn kyng Herowdės halle?""Lakyt me neyther mete ne drynkIn kyng Herowdės halle;Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,Is better than we alle.""Quhat eylyt the, Stevyn, art thu wod?Or thu gynnyst to brede?Lakyt the eyther gold or fe,Or ony rychė wede?""Lakyt me neyther gold ne fe,Ne non rychė wede;Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,Shal helpyn us at our nede.""That is al so soth, Stevyn,Al so soth, I wys,As this capon crowė schelThat lyth her in myn dych."That word was not so sonė seyd,That wordė in that halle,The capon crew,Christus natus est!Among the lordės alle."Rysyt up, myn túrmentowresBe to and al be on,And ledyt Stevyn out of this town,And stonyt hym wyth ston."Tokyn hem Stevene,And stonyd hym in the way:And therfor is his evynOn Crystės owyn day.

Seynt Stevene was a clerk,In kyng Herowdės halle,And servyd him of bred and cloth,As every kyng befalle.

Seynt Stevene was a clerk,

In kyng Herowdės halle,

And servyd him of bred and cloth,

As every kyng befalle.

Stevyn out of Kechoun cam,Wyth boris bed on honde,He saw a sterr was fayr and bryghtOver Bedlem stonde.

Stevyn out of Kechoun cam,

Wyth boris bed on honde,

He saw a sterr was fayr and bryght

Over Bedlem stonde.

He kyst adoun the bores hed,And went into the halle:"I forsake the, kyng Herowde,And thi werkės alle.

He kyst adoun the bores hed,

And went into the halle:

"I forsake the, kyng Herowde,

And thi werkės alle.

"I forsak the, kyng Herowde,And thi werkės alle:Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,Is better than we alle."

"I forsak the, kyng Herowde,

And thi werkės alle:

Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,

Is better than we alle."

"Quhat eylyt the, Stevene?Quhat is the befalle?Lakkyt the eyther mete or drynkIn kyng Herowdės halle?"

"Quhat eylyt the, Stevene?

Quhat is the befalle?

Lakkyt the eyther mete or drynk

In kyng Herowdės halle?"

"Lakyt me neyther mete ne drynkIn kyng Herowdės halle;Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,Is better than we alle."

"Lakyt me neyther mete ne drynk

In kyng Herowdės halle;

Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,

Is better than we alle."

"Quhat eylyt the, Stevyn, art thu wod?Or thu gynnyst to brede?Lakyt the eyther gold or fe,Or ony rychė wede?"

"Quhat eylyt the, Stevyn, art thu wod?

Or thu gynnyst to brede?

Lakyt the eyther gold or fe,

Or ony rychė wede?"

"Lakyt me neyther gold ne fe,Ne non rychė wede;Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,Shal helpyn us at our nede."

"Lakyt me neyther gold ne fe,

Ne non rychė wede;

Ther is a chyld, in Bedlem born,

Shal helpyn us at our nede."

"That is al so soth, Stevyn,Al so soth, I wys,As this capon crowė schelThat lyth her in myn dych."

"That is al so soth, Stevyn,

Al so soth, I wys,

As this capon crowė schel

That lyth her in myn dych."

That word was not so sonė seyd,That wordė in that halle,The capon crew,Christus natus est!Among the lordės alle.

That word was not so sonė seyd,

That wordė in that halle,

The capon crew,Christus natus est!

Among the lordės alle.

"Rysyt up, myn túrmentowresBe to and al be on,And ledyt Stevyn out of this town,And stonyt hym wyth ston."

"Rysyt up, myn túrmentowres

Be to and al be on,

And ledyt Stevyn out of this town,

And stonyt hym wyth ston."

Tokyn hem Stevene,And stonyd hym in the way:And therfor is his evynOn Crystės owyn day.

Tokyn hem Stevene,

And stonyd hym in the way:

And therfor is his evyn

On Crystės owyn day.

256

THE BURNING BABEAs I in hoary winter's nightStood shivering in the snow,Surprised I was with sudden heat,Which made my heart to glow;And lifting up a fearful eyeTo view what fire was near,A pretty babe all burning bright,Did in the air appear:Who, scorchèd with excessive heat,Such floods of tears did shed,As though his floods should quench his flames,Which with his tears were fed:"Alas!" quoth he, "but newly born,In fiery heats I fry,[103]Yet none approach to warm their heartsOr feel my fire, but I!My faultless breast the furnace is,The fuel wounding thorns;Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke,The ashes shames and scorns;The fuel Justice layeth on,And Mercy blows the coals;The metal in this furnace wroughtAre men's defilèd souls:For which, as now on fire I am,To work them to their good,So will I melt into a bath,To wash them in my blood."With this he vanished out of sight,And swiftly shrunk away,And straight I called unto my mindThat it was Christmas Day.Robert Southwell

As I in hoary winter's nightStood shivering in the snow,Surprised I was with sudden heat,Which made my heart to glow;And lifting up a fearful eyeTo view what fire was near,A pretty babe all burning bright,Did in the air appear:Who, scorchèd with excessive heat,Such floods of tears did shed,As though his floods should quench his flames,Which with his tears were fed:"Alas!" quoth he, "but newly born,In fiery heats I fry,[103]Yet none approach to warm their heartsOr feel my fire, but I!My faultless breast the furnace is,The fuel wounding thorns;Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke,The ashes shames and scorns;The fuel Justice layeth on,And Mercy blows the coals;The metal in this furnace wroughtAre men's defilèd souls:For which, as now on fire I am,To work them to their good,So will I melt into a bath,To wash them in my blood."With this he vanished out of sight,And swiftly shrunk away,And straight I called unto my mindThat it was Christmas Day.Robert Southwell

As I in hoary winter's night

Stood shivering in the snow,

Surprised I was with sudden heat,

Which made my heart to glow;

And lifting up a fearful eye

To view what fire was near,

A pretty babe all burning bright,

Did in the air appear:

Who, scorchèd with excessive heat,

Such floods of tears did shed,

As though his floods should quench his flames,

Which with his tears were fed:

"Alas!" quoth he, "but newly born,

In fiery heats I fry,[103]

Yet none approach to warm their hearts

Or feel my fire, but I!

My faultless breast the furnace is,The fuel wounding thorns;Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke,The ashes shames and scorns;The fuel Justice layeth on,And Mercy blows the coals;The metal in this furnace wroughtAre men's defilèd souls:For which, as now on fire I am,To work them to their good,So will I melt into a bath,To wash them in my blood."With this he vanished out of sight,And swiftly shrunk away,And straight I called unto my mindThat it was Christmas Day.Robert Southwell

My faultless breast the furnace is,

The fuel wounding thorns;

Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke,

The ashes shames and scorns;

The fuel Justice layeth on,

And Mercy blows the coals;

The metal in this furnace wrought

Are men's defilèd souls:

For which, as now on fire I am,

To work them to their good,

So will I melt into a bath,

To wash them in my blood."

With this he vanished out of sight,

And swiftly shrunk away,

And straight I called unto my mind

That it was Christmas Day.

Robert Southwell

257

THE HOLLY AND THE IVYThe holly and the ivy,Now both are full-well grown,Of all the trees that are in the wood,The holly bears the crown.O the rising of the sun,The running of the deer,The playing of the merry Organ,Sweet singing in the quire.Sweet singing in the quire.The holly bears a blossom,As white as lily-flower;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,To be our sweet Saviour.O the rising of the sun,...The holly bears a berry,As red as any blood;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,To do poor sinners good.O the rising of the sun,...The holly bears a prickle,As sharp as any thorn;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,On Christmas Day in the morn.O the rising of the sun,...The holly bears a bark,As bitter as any gall;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,For to redeem us all.O the rising of the sun,...The holly and the ivy,Now both are full well grown,Of all the trees that are in the wood,The holly bears the crown.O the rising of the sun,The running of the deer,The playing of the merry Organ,Sweet singing in the quire.Sweet singing in the quire.

The holly and the ivy,Now both are full-well grown,Of all the trees that are in the wood,The holly bears the crown.O the rising of the sun,The running of the deer,The playing of the merry Organ,Sweet singing in the quire.Sweet singing in the quire.The holly bears a blossom,As white as lily-flower;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,To be our sweet Saviour.O the rising of the sun,...The holly bears a berry,As red as any blood;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,To do poor sinners good.O the rising of the sun,...The holly bears a prickle,As sharp as any thorn;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,On Christmas Day in the morn.O the rising of the sun,...The holly bears a bark,As bitter as any gall;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,For to redeem us all.O the rising of the sun,...The holly and the ivy,Now both are full well grown,Of all the trees that are in the wood,The holly bears the crown.O the rising of the sun,The running of the deer,The playing of the merry Organ,Sweet singing in the quire.Sweet singing in the quire.

The holly and the ivy,

Now both are full-well grown,

Of all the trees that are in the wood,

The holly bears the crown.

O the rising of the sun,

The running of the deer,

The playing of the merry Organ,

Sweet singing in the quire.

The holly bears a blossom,As white as lily-flower;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,To be our sweet Saviour.O the rising of the sun,...

The holly bears a blossom,

As white as lily-flower;

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,

To be our sweet Saviour.

O the rising of the sun,...

The holly bears a berry,As red as any blood;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,To do poor sinners good.O the rising of the sun,...

The holly bears a berry,

As red as any blood;

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,

To do poor sinners good.

O the rising of the sun,...

The holly bears a prickle,As sharp as any thorn;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,On Christmas Day in the morn.O the rising of the sun,...

The holly bears a prickle,

As sharp as any thorn;

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,

On Christmas Day in the morn.

O the rising of the sun,...

The holly bears a bark,As bitter as any gall;And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,For to redeem us all.O the rising of the sun,...

The holly bears a bark,

As bitter as any gall;

And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,

For to redeem us all.

O the rising of the sun,...

The holly and the ivy,Now both are full well grown,Of all the trees that are in the wood,The holly bears the crown.

The holly and the ivy,

Now both are full well grown,

Of all the trees that are in the wood,

The holly bears the crown.

O the rising of the sun,The running of the deer,The playing of the merry Organ,Sweet singing in the quire.Sweet singing in the quire.

O the rising of the sun,

The running of the deer,

The playing of the merry Organ,

Sweet singing in the quire.

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