 | The Poems of John Clare |  |
230
THE LANDRAIL (II)
I've listened, when to school I've gone,
That craking noise to hear,
And crept and listened on and on
But ne'er once gotten near;
That craking noise to hear,
And crept and listened on and on
But ne'er once gotten near;
I've trampled through the meadow grass
And dreaded to be caught,
And stood and wondered what it was,
And very often thought
And dreaded to be caught,
And stood and wondered what it was,
And very often thought
Some fairy thing had lost its way,
Night's other worlds to find,
And hiding in the grass all day
Mourned to be left behind;
Night's other worlds to find,
And hiding in the grass all day
Mourned to be left behind;
But I've since found their eggs, forsooth,
And so we may agen,
But great the joy I missed in youth
As not to find them then;
And so we may agen,
But great the joy I missed in youth
As not to find them then;
For when a boy a new nest meets
Joy gushes to his breast,
Nor would his heart so quickly beat
Were guineas in the nest.
Joy gushes to his breast,
Nor would his heart so quickly beat
Were guineas in the nest.
I've hunted till the day has been
So vanished that I dare
Not go to school nor yet be seen
That I was playing there;
So vanished that I dare
Not go to school nor yet be seen
That I was playing there;
So mid the wheat I've made a seat
Upon an old meer-stone,
And hid, and all my dinner eat,
Till four o'clock was gone.
Upon an old meer-stone,
And hid, and all my dinner eat,
Till four o'clock was gone.
| The Poems of John Clare | |