 | The Poems of A. C. Benson |  |
82
THE PURSUIT
I had outstripped him on the moorland wide,
The heathery moor, with grassy tracks between
The peaty hills: at eve he should have been
A moving speck upon the far hill-side.
The heathery moor, with grassy tracks between
The peaty hills: at eve he should have been
A moving speck upon the far hill-side.
But here within the tangled forest, here
With all these trailing vines about my feet,
Among the tall tree-stems, he steps as fleet
As I, though I be winged with instant fear.
With all these trailing vines about my feet,
Among the tall tree-stems, he steps as fleet
As I, though I be winged with instant fear.
For every clutching branch I rend away,
Each knotted creeper, tremblingly untied,
Each hazel-thicket, where I bend and crawl,
Leaves free the perilous gap for him to glide
Still nearer, till with sobbing breath I fall
Upon my face, and he shall spring and slay.
Each knotted creeper, tremblingly untied,
Each hazel-thicket, where I bend and crawl,
Leaves free the perilous gap for him to glide
Still nearer, till with sobbing breath I fall
Upon my face, and he shall spring and slay.
| The Poems of A. C. Benson | |