 | Lyrics (1895) |  |
131
BEHIND THE BARS
White, white and weary blinked the road,
Dust on the haggard grasses hung,
I stared and sickened as I strove:
Then on the turf my limbs I flung.
Dust on the haggard grasses hung,
I stared and sickened as I strove:
Then on the turf my limbs I flung.
A grey stone wall beside me made
The pleasaunce safe from rude essays;
A trellised wicket half betrayed
Cool beechen stems and winding ways
The pleasaunce safe from rude essays;
A trellised wicket half betrayed
Cool beechen stems and winding ways
A tree her branching arms inclined
Bloom-laden, starred with rosy-white
And leaning filled the hungering wind
With spicy scent and sharp delight.
Bloom-laden, starred with rosy-white
And leaning filled the hungering wind
With spicy scent and sharp delight.
132
As blue as sapphire through the trees
From hidden chimneys soared the smoke,
And children's voices on the breeze
The woodland stillness softly broke.
From hidden chimneys soared the smoke,
And children's voices on the breeze
The woodland stillness softly broke.
Yet, as I lingered, came a thing,
A dreary thing, to gaze on me;
It crouched and muttered shuddering,
And seemed to slip from tree to tree.
A dreary thing, to gaze on me;
It crouched and muttered shuddering,
And seemed to slip from tree to tree.
I felt the blood in arm and cheek
Prick sharp before the unuttered spell,
I knew not what it came to seek,
But through the bars a shadow fell,
Prick sharp before the unuttered spell,
I knew not what it came to seek,
But through the bars a shadow fell,
A wicked shadow: from my place
I leapt, I hastened,—yet, meseems,—
O God! that I had seen its face!
The thing I saw not haunts my dreams.
I leapt, I hastened,—yet, meseems,—
O God! that I had seen its face!
The thing I saw not haunts my dreams.
| Lyrics (1895) | |