 | The Poems of A. C. Benson |  |
247
IN ETON CHURCHYARD
In and out I tread the slender
Paths that wind by grave and grave;
In the summer breeze the tender
Grasses wave.
Paths that wind by grave and grave;
In the summer breeze the tender
Grasses wave.
Jackdaws cheerily hallooing
From the turret's dizzy edge:
Glossy doves serenely cooing
From their ledge.
From the turret's dizzy edge:
Glossy doves serenely cooing
From their ledge.
Through the stillness, faint and dreamy,
Comes the murmur of the town,
Where the thorn tree shakes her creamy
Petals down.
Comes the murmur of the town,
Where the thorn tree shakes her creamy
Petals down.
Brothers, sisters, silent lying,
Ere you breathed the last long breath,
Were you too afraid of dying,
Not of death?
Ere you breathed the last long breath,
Were you too afraid of dying,
Not of death?
Do you walk unseen beside us?
Prompt, applaud our dreams of good?
Would you comfort, warn us, guide us,
If you could?
Prompt, applaud our dreams of good?
Would you comfort, warn us, guide us,
If you could?
248
Children, tired of idle jesting,
Locked in dear embraces weep:
Sink reluctant, sink protesting
Into sleep.
Locked in dear embraces weep:
Sink reluctant, sink protesting
Into sleep.
Tho' the host that none can number
Greet upon the joyful shore,
I should be content to slumber
Evermore.
Greet upon the joyful shore,
I should be content to slumber
Evermore.
| The Poems of A. C. Benson | |