Robert Louis Stevenson: Collected Poems Edited, with an introduction and notes, by Janet Adam Smith |
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The Precarious Mill
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 | Robert Louis Stevenson: Collected Poems |  |
428
The Precarious Mill
Alone above the stream it stands,
Above the iron hill,
The topsy-turvy, tumble-down,
Yet habitable mill.
Above the iron hill,
The topsy-turvy, tumble-down,
Yet habitable mill.
Still as the ringing saws advance
To slice the humming deal,
All day the pallid miller hears
The thunder of the wheel.
To slice the humming deal,
All day the pallid miller hears
The thunder of the wheel.
He hears the river plunge and roar
As roars the angry mob,
He feels the solid building quake,
The trusty timbers throb.
As roars the angry mob,
He feels the solid building quake,
The trusty timbers throb.
All night beside the fire he cowers:
He hears the rafters jar:
O why is he not in a proper house
As decent people are!
He hears the rafters jar:
O why is he not in a proper house
As decent people are!
The floors are all aslant, he sees,
The doors are all a-jam;
And from the hook above his head
All crooked swings the ham.
The doors are all a-jam;
And from the hook above his head
All crooked swings the ham.
‘Alas,’ he cries and shakes his head,
‘I see by every sign,
There soon will be the deuce to pay,
With this estate of mine.’
‘I see by every sign,
There soon will be the deuce to pay,
With this estate of mine.’
| Robert Louis Stevenson: Collected Poems | |