 | Poems: Second Series |  |
56
ON THE MOORS.
The clouds were light and fleecy: the sky was bright and blue:
And over the purple heather the wild wind laughed and flew:
And over the rushy grasses, and over the withered fern,
And down to the wooded dingle that winds with the winding burn.
And over the purple heather the wild wind laughed and flew:
And over the rushy grasses, and over the withered fern,
And down to the wooded dingle that winds with the winding burn.
It laughed through the leaves of autumn, russet and gold and brown:
And the boughs were bent and shaken, and the dead leaves fluttered down.
The foam of the leaping brooklet was whirled in a mist away:
The tarn on the lonely moorlands was blue as a summer's day.
And the boughs were bent and shaken, and the dead leaves fluttered down.
The foam of the leaping brooklet was whirled in a mist away:
The tarn on the lonely moorlands was blue as a summer's day.
57
Unseen was the sheltered valley where the busy river flows:
Line beyond line of purple dim into distance rose:
But never a sound was wafted, and never a wreath of smoke,
And only the shivering rushes, and only the wild winds spoke.
Line beyond line of purple dim into distance rose:
But never a sound was wafted, and never a wreath of smoke,
And only the shivering rushes, and only the wild winds spoke.
Alone on the lonely heather—far, far from the life of men,
I lived—I had long been dreaming—alone—but I lived again:
Pure as a child I wandered—free as a careless boy,
And the wind breathed through my spirit, and life was a throb of joy.
I lived—I had long been dreaming—alone—but I lived again:
Pure as a child I wandered—free as a careless boy,
And the wind breathed through my spirit, and life was a throb of joy.
I lived in the moors around me: I lived in the bright blue sky:
I lived in the rushing freedom of the wind that swept me by:
And oh! when the grasses shivered, I lived in the loving kiss,
In the touch divine of sadness, the bloom of the flower of bliss.
I lived in the rushing freedom of the wind that swept me by:
And oh! when the grasses shivered, I lived in the loving kiss,
In the touch divine of sadness, the bloom of the flower of bliss.
58
Dark clouds came over the heaven: grey mists crept over the moors:
For the face of Nature changes, but the life of the soul endures;
And wind, and heather, and sunlight, that sleep in their wintry grave,
Are part of the soul they quickened, and live in the life they gave.
For the face of Nature changes, but the life of the soul endures;
And wind, and heather, and sunlight, that sleep in their wintry grave,
Are part of the soul they quickened, and live in the life they gave.
| Poems: Second Series | |