The Woodlark_
77 lines✦
TEEVO cheetio cheevio chee:_O where, what can that be?_Weedio-weedio:_ there again!So tiny a trickle of song-strain;And all round not to be foundFor brier, bough, furrow, or green groundBefore or behind or far or at handEither left either rightAnywhere in the sunlight.Well, after all! Ah but hark--'I am the little woodlark.. . . . . . .To-day the sky is two and twoWith white strokes and strains of the blue. . . . . . .Round a ring, around a ringAnd while I sail (must listen) I sing. . . . . . .The skylark is my cousin and heIs known to men more than me. . . . . . .. . . when the cry withinSays Go on then I go onTill the longing is less and the good gone But down drop, if it says Stop,To the all-a-leaf of the treetopAnd after that off the bough. . . . . . .I am so very, O so very gladThat I do think there is not to be had . . .. . . . . . .The blue wheat-acre is underneathAnd the braided ear breaks out of the sheath,The ear in milk, lush the sash,And crush-silk poppies aflash,The blood-gush blade-gashFlame-rash rudredBud shelling or broad-shedTatter-tassel-tangled and dingle-a-dangledDandy-hung dainty head.. . . . . . .And down ... the furrow drySunspurge and oxeyeAnd laced-leaved lovelyFoam-tuft fumitory. . . . . . .Through the velvety wind V-wingedTo the nest's nook I balance and buoyWith a sweet joy of a sweet joy,Sweet, of a sweet, of a sweet joyOf a sweet--a sweet--sweet--joy.' _65Moonrise_ I AWOKE in the Midsummer not to call night, |in thewhite and the walk of the morning:The moon, dwindled and thinned to the fringe | of afinger-nail held to the candle,Or paring of paradisaical fruit, | lovely in waning butlustreless,Stepped from the stool, drew back from the barrow, | ofdark Maenefa the mountain;A cusp still clasped him, a fluke yet fanged him, | en-tangled him, not quit utterly.This was the prized, the desirable sight, | unsought, pre-sented so easily,Parted me leaf and leaf, divided me, | eyelid and eyelid ofslumber. _66_ REPEAT that, repeat,Cuckoo, bird, and open ear wells, heart-springs, delight-fully sweet,With a ballad, with a ballad, a reboundOff trundled timber and scoops of the hillside ground,hollow hollow hollow ground:The whole landscape flushes on a sudden at a sound. _67On a piece of music_
✦