 | Orellana and Other Poems |  |
HEIGH-HO! THE WIND AND THE RAIN!
Day had come without dawning,
The street was deserted and still,
At the mill-door the miller stood yawning
With his back to the hum of the mill.
The street was deserted and still,
At the mill-door the miller stood yawning
With his back to the hum of the mill.
We drove past the mill with a clatter,
And out on the wind-swept plain,
And then down came, whole water,
In gleaming sheets the rain.
And out on the wind-swept plain,
And then down came, whole water,
In gleaming sheets the rain.
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The road struck up the mountains
Suddenly ere we wist,
We heard the gushing of fountains
And the wail of mews in the mist.
Suddenly ere we wist,
We heard the gushing of fountains
And the wail of mews in the mist.
At times through the grey fog stealing
Swept columns of ghostly pines,
Behind us they seemed to be wheeling
And forming in squares and lines.
Swept columns of ghostly pines,
Behind us they seemed to be wheeling
And forming in squares and lines.
And once far up at a turning
Where a loch feeds a hundred rills,
We were ushered without warning
Into a conclave of hills.
Where a loch feeds a hundred rills,
We were ushered without warning
Into a conclave of hills.
Like hooded monks before us
They loomed through mist and rain:
The swirling mists closed o'er us
And they were lost again.
They loomed through mist and rain:
The swirling mists closed o'er us
And they were lost again.
Splish! splash! on the flat of the mountain
Stumbles our jaded beast;
The jolts are past all counting,
And the rain has never ceased!
Stumbles our jaded beast;
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And the rain has never ceased!
For dull monotonous mileage
The hills in a mist have the palm:
—I wish I were back in the village,
Or sound asleep where I am.
The hills in a mist have the palm:
—I wish I were back in the village,
Or sound asleep where I am.
| Orellana and Other Poems | |