Collected poems of Thomas Hardy With a portrait |
 |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
|
|
|
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GOD'S EDUCATION |
|
|
|
|
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
 | Collected poems of Thomas Hardy |  |
GOD'S EDUCATION
I saw him steal the light away
That haunted in her eye:
It went so gently none could say
More than that it was there one day
And missing by-and-by.
That haunted in her eye:
It went so gently none could say
More than that it was there one day
And missing by-and-by.
I watched her longer, and he stole
Her lily tincts and rose;
All her young sprightliness of soul
Next fell beneath his cold control,
And disappeared like those.
Her lily tincts and rose;
All her young sprightliness of soul
Next fell beneath his cold control,
And disappeared like those.
I asked: “Why do you serve her so?
Do you, for some glad day,
Hoard these her sweets—?” He said, “O no,
They charm not me; I bid Time throw
Them carelessly away.”
Do you, for some glad day,
Hoard these her sweets—?” He said, “O no,
They charm not me; I bid Time throw
Them carelessly away.”
Said I: “We call that cruelty—
We, your poor mortal kind.”
He mused. “The thought is new to me.
Forsooth, though I men's master be.
Theirs is the teaching mind!”
We, your poor mortal kind.”
262
Forsooth, though I men's master be.
Theirs is the teaching mind!”
| Collected poems of Thomas Hardy | |