John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion Edited by R. K. R. Thornton & Anne Tibble |
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THE HAIL STORM IN JUNE 1831 |
 | John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion |  |
THE HAIL STORM IN JUNE 1831
Darkness came oer like chaos—& the sunAs startled with the terror seemed to run
With quickened dread behind the beetling cloud
The old wood sung like nature in her shroud
& each old rifted oak trees mossy arm
Seemed shrinking from the presence of the storm
& as it nearer came they shook beyond
Their former fears—as if to burst the bond
Of earth that bound them to that ancient place
Where danger seemed to threaten all their race
Who had withstood all tempests since their birth
Yet now seemed bowing to the very earth
Like reeds they bent like drunken men they reeled
Till man from shelter ran & sought the open field
| John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion | |