Walter De la Mare

“ Past Forest, River, Mountain, River, Forest-
He coursed the whole night through,
Till morning found him come into a Country,
Where none his bad face knew.
Past Mountain, River, Forest, River, Mountain-
That Thief's lean shanks sped on,
Till Evening found him knocking at a Dark House,
His breath now well-nigh gone.
There came a little maid and asked his Business;
A Cobbler dwelt within;
And though she much misliked the Bag he carried,
She led the Bad Man in. ”

“ Like Oberon's meadows her garden is
Drowsy from dawn to dusk with bees.
Weeps she never, but sometimes sighs,
And peeps at her garden with bright brown eyes;
And all she has is all she needs —
A poor Old Widow in her weeds. ”

“ He watched 'neath a green and giant bough,
And the pigs in the ground
Made a wonderful grizzling and gruzzling
And a greedy sound.
And when, full-fed they were gone, and Night
Walked her starry ways,
He stared with his cheeks in his hands
At his sullen blaze.
FIVE EYES In Hans' old Mill his three black cats
Watch the bins for the thieving rats.
Whisker and claw, they crouch in the night,
Their five eyes smouldering green and bright:
Squeaks from the flour sacks, squeaks from where
The cold wind stirs on the empty stair,
Squeaking and scampering, everywhere. ”

“ THE QUARTETTE Tom sang for joy and Ned sang for joy and old Sam sang for joy;
All we four boys piped up loud, just like one boy;
And the ladies that sate with the Squire - their cheeks were all wet,
For the noise of the voice of us boys, when we sang our Quartette.
Tom he piped low and Ned he piped low and old Sam he piped low;
Into a sorrowful fall did our music flow ”

“ And shapen like a Fish.
Then tiptoe up he stole into a Chamber,
Where on Tasselled Pillows lay
Robin and his Daule in dreaming slumbers
Tired with the summer's day.
That Thief he mimbled round him in the gloaming,
Their treasure for to spy,
Combs, Brooches, Chains, and, Rings, and Pins and Buckles
All higgledy, Piggle-dy. ”

“ To the cold night, to have
Sour physic given;
Out of some dream of pain,
Then strive long hours in vain
Deep dreamless sleep to gain:
Poor Miss 7.
Yet memory softly sings
Poor Miss 7
Songs full of love and peace
And gladness even;
Clear flowers and tiny wings,
All tender, lovely things,
Hope to her bosom brings -
Happy Miss 7.
SAM When Sam goes back in memory,
It is to where the sea
Breaks on the shingle, emerald-green,
In white foam, endlessly ”

“ The chestnut blooms beneath.
'Sooeep, Sooeep!' he cries, and brightly peers
This way and that, to see
With his two light-blue shining eyes
What custom there may be.
And once inside the house, he'll squat,
And drive his rods on high,
Till twirls his sudden sooty brush
Against the morning sky.
Then, 'mid his bulging bags of soot,
With half the world asleep,
His small cart wheels him off again,
Still hoarsely bawling, 'Sooeep!'
MRS. MACQUEEN (OR THE LOLLIE-SHOP) With glass like a bull's-eye,
And shutters of green,
Down on the cobbles
Lives Mrs. MacQueen,
At six she rises ”

“ Only a little greening where the rain drips down;
Nobody at the window, nobody at the door,
Only a little hollow which a foot once wore;
But still I tread on tiptoe, still tiptoe on I go,
Past nettles, porch, and weedy well, for oh, I know
A friendless face is peering, and a still clear eye
Peeps closely through the casement
as my step goes by.
THE RUIN When the last colours of the day
Have from their burning ebbed away,
About that ruin, cold and lone,
The cricket shrills from stone to stone ”

“ In the Dead of Night, with none to spy or listen-
From off his weary back.
And he taught the little Chicks to call him Father,
And he sold his stolen Pelf,
And bought a Palace, Horses, Slaves, and Peacocks
To ease his wicked self.
And though the Children never really loved him,
He was rich past all belief;
While Robin and his Dame o'er Delf and Pewter
Spent all their Days in Grief.
PLACES AND PEOPLE A WIDOW'S WEEDS A poor old Widow in her weeds
Sowed her garden with wild-flower seeds ”

“ Bearded, cloaked, and cowled, they go,
'Neath Charlie's Wain they twitter and tweet,
And away they swarm 'neath the Dragon's feet,
With a whoop and a flutter they swing and sway,
And surge pell-mell down the Milky Way.
Betwixt the legs of the glittering Chair
They hover and squeak in the empty air. ”

“ Chewing the cud 'neath a fading sky
Dobbin at manger pulls his hay:
Gone is another summer's day.
EARTH FOLK The cat she walks on padded claws,
The wolf on the hills lays stealthy paws,
Feathered birds in the rain-sweet sky
At their ease in the air, flit low, flit high. ”

“ Now lean with long travail, all wasted with woe,
With a monkey for messmate and friend,
He sits 'neath the Cross in the cankering snow,
And waites for his sorrowful end,
Yeo ho!
And waits for his sorrowful end.
THE OLD SOLDIER There came an Old Soldier to my door,
Asked a crust, and asked no more;
The wars had thinned him very bare,
Fighting and marching everywhere,
With a Fol rol dol rol di do. ”

“ The Thief at Robin's Castle
PLACES AND PEOPLE
A Widow's Weeds
'Sooeep!'
Mrs. MacQueen
The Little Green Orchard
Poor Miss 7
Sam
Andy Battle
The Old Soldier
The Picture
The Little Old Cupid
King David
The Old House
BEASTS
Unstooping
All But Blind
Nicholas Nye
The Pigs and The Charcoal Burner
Five Eyes
Grim
Tit for Tat
Summer Evening
Earth Folk ”

“ But the Crust, Ale and Cheese of the Sailor,
His Mug and his platter of Delf,
And the crescent to light home the Shepherd and Sheep-dog
The painter has kept to himself.
THE LITTLE OLD CUPID 'Twas a very small garden ”