 | Collected poems of Thomas Hardy |  |
567
THE WANDERER
There is nobody on the road
But I,
And no beseeming abode
I can try
For shelter, so abroad
I must lie.
But I,
And no beseeming abode
I can try
For shelter, so abroad
I must lie.
The stars feel not far up,
And to be
The lights by which I sup
Glimmeringly,
Set out in a hollow cup
Over me.
And to be
The lights by which I sup
Glimmeringly,
Set out in a hollow cup
Over me.
They wag as though they were
Panting for joy
Where they shine, above all care.
And annoy,
And demons of despair—
Life's alloy.
Panting for joy
Where they shine, above all care.
And annoy,
And demons of despair—
Life's alloy.
Sometimes outside the fence
Feet swing past,
Clock-like, and then go hence,
Till at last
There is a silence, dense,
Deep, and vast.
Feet swing past,
Clock-like, and then go hence,
Till at last
There is a silence, dense,
Deep, and vast.
A wanderer, witch-drawn
To and fro,
To-morrow, at the dawn,
On I go,
And where I rest anon
Do not know!
To and fro,
To-morrow, at the dawn,
On I go,
And where I rest anon
Do not know!
Yet it's meet—this bed of hay
And roofless plight;
For there's a house of clay,
My own, quite,
To roof me soon, all day
And all night.
And roofless plight;
For there's a house of clay,
My own, quite,
To roof me soon, all day
And all night.
| Collected poems of Thomas Hardy | |