Frances Darwin Cornford

“ I saw you sit waiting with your sewing on your knees.
AUTUMN MORNING AT CAMBRIDGE
I ran out in the morning, when the air was clean and new,
And all the grass was glittering, and grey with autumn dew,
I ran out to the apple tree and pulled an apple down,
And all the bells were ringing in the old grey town.
Down in the town, off the bridges and the grass
They are sweeping up the leaves to let the people pass,
Sweeping up the old leaves, golden-reds and browns,
While the men go to lecture with the wind in their gowns. ”

“ And nowhere was his waving tail among the waving grass.
I called him in a thousand ways and yet he did not come;
The pathways and the hedges were horrible and dumb.
I prayed to God who never heard. My desperate soul grew numb.
The sun sank low. I ran; I prayed: "If God has not the power
To find him, let me die. I cannot bear another hour." ”

“ His nose was fresh as morning dew and blacker than the night;
I thought that it could even snuff the shadows and the light;
And his tail he held it bravely, like a banner in a fight.
His body covered thick with hair was very good to smell;
His little stomach underneath was pink as any shell;
And I loved him and honoured him, more than words can tell.
We ran out in the morning, both of us, to play,
Up and down across the fields for all the sunny day ”