Songs of Ourselves: Cambridge Assessment International Education Anthology of Poetry in English

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Songs of Ourselves

Volume 1
Cambridge Assessment International Education
Anthology of Poetry in English

Copyright Material - Review Only - Not for Redistribution


Copyright Material - Review Only - Not for Redistribution
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y Songs of Ourselves

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Volume 1
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Cambridge Assessment International Education
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Anthology of Poetry in English

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University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom

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One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA

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477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia


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314–321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi – 110025, India

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79 Anson Road, #06–04/06, Singapore 079906

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Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.

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It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of

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education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.


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www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108462266
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© Cambridge Assessment International Education 2018

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This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception


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and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,


no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
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permission of Cambridge University Press.


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First published 2005


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This edition 2018

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Printed in Italy by Rotolito S.p.A.
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A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
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ISBN 978-1-108-46226-6 Paperback


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Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy


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of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,


and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
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accurate or appropriate. Information regarding prices, travel timetables, and other


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factual information given in this work is correct at the time of first printing but
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Cambridge University Press does not guarantee the accuracy of such information
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thereafter.
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Contents
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Introduction xv

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PART 1

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Poems from the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries
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1 Song: Why So Pale and Wan, Fond Lover? 3

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sir john suckling

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What Thing Is Love?


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george peele
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3 Sonnet 11

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lady mary wroth


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4 Song: Sigh No More, Ladies 6


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william shakespeare
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5 Song: Weep You No More, Sad Fountains 7

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anonymous
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6 When I Was Fair And Young 8
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queen elizabeth i
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7 They Flee From Me, That Sometime Did Me Seek 9


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sir thomas wyatt


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8 Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part (Sonnet 61 from Idea) 10
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michael drayton
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Song: Go, Lovely Rose!


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edmund waller
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No Crooked Leg, No Bleared Eye


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queen elizabeth i
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11 With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb’st the skies


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(Sonnet 31 from Astrophil and Stella) 13


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sir philip sidney


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iv Contents

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Written The Night Before His Execution

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chidiock tichbourne
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13 The Author’s Epitaph, Made By Himself 15

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sir walter raleigh

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14 A Litany In Time Of Plague 16

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thomas nashe
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15 Come darkest night, becoming sorrow best
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(Sonnet 19 from Pamphilia to Amphilanthus)

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lady mary wroth

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16 From Underwoods 19
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ben jonson
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17 Song: Fear No More The Heat O’ Th’ Sun 20

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william shakespeare Pr
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18 A Song 22
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thomas carew
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Walsingham
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19 23

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sir walter raleigh

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The Flowers That on The Banks and Walks Did Grow


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aemilia lanyer
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21 Come Live with me, and be my Love 27


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christopher marlowe
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22 Sonnet 54 28
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edmund spenser
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23 What is Our Life? 29


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sir walter raleigh


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24 Sonnet 75 30
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edmund spenser
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Song: Spring, The Sweet Spring


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25 31
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thomas nashe
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26 Sonnet 18 32
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william shakespeare
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Contents v

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Sonnet 73

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william shakespeare

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28 Song: Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind 34

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william shakespeare

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29 The Procession of The Seasons 35

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edmund spenser
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30 The Man of Life Upright
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thomas campion

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31 A Mind Content 38

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robert greene

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32 I Grieve, and Dare Not Show my Discontent 39
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queen elizabeth i
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33 Song: To Celia
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ben jonson
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Golden Slumbers
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34 41
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thomas dekker

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35 Song: Full Fathom Five 42


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william shakespeare
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36 A Farewell To The Reader 43
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isabella whitney
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PART 2
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Poems from the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries


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37 The Fly 47
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william blake
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38 Shadows In The Water 48


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thomas traherne
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39 Ants (From Dryades) 51


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The Ant or Emmet


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isaac watts
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vi Contents

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The Grasshopper

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42 To The Virgins, To Make Much of Time 55

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robert herrick

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43 The Call 56

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john hall
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44 Love ge 58

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henry baker

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45 Song: Love Armed 60

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aphra behn

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46 Song: I Feed A Flame Within 61
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john dryden
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47 The Mower To The Glow-Worms


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andrew marvell
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Her Window
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richard leigh

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49 To One That Asked Me Why I Loved J.G. 65


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‘ephelia’
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50 As Loving Hind That, Hartless, Wants Her Deer 67
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anne bradstreet
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A Married State
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katherine philips
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52 Ode on Solitude 70
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alexander pope
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From A Dialogue Between a Squeamish Cotting Mechanic and His


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Sluttish Wife, In a Kitchen 71


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edward ward
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On My Dreaming of my Wife
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54 74
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jonathan richardson
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55 William and Margaret 75


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david mallet
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Contents vii

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The Widow

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robert southey

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57 The Rights of Woman 80

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anna laetitia barbauld

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58 Song: To Lucasta, Going to The Wars 82

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richard lovelace
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59 Ode: I Hate That Drum’s Discordant Sound
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john scott

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60 From Blenheim 84

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john philips

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61 The Hunting of The Hare 86
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margaret cavendish, duchess of newcastle
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62 From A Satyr Against Mankind


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john wilmot, earl of rochester


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The Chimney-Sweeper’s Complaint


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mary alcock

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64 The Chimney-Sweeper 94
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william blake
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65 Song: The Unconcerned 95
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thomas flatman
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Careless Content
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66 96
john byrom
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67 Sonnet 16: On His Blindness 99


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john milton
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The Collar
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george herbert
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69 Quickness 102
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henry vaughan
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70 Death the Leveller 103


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james shirley
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viii Contents

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Sonnet: Death, Be Not Proud

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john donne

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72 Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard 105

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thomas gray

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73 Kubla Khan 110

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samuel taylor coleridge
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74 From An Essay on Man
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alexander pope

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PART 3
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Poems from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (I)
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75 Caged Bird 115
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maya angelou
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76 Rising Five 117


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norman nicholson
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Little Boy Crying

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mervyn morris
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78 Carpet-weavers, Morocco
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79 Song to the Men of England 121


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percy bysshe shelley


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80 From Spectator Ab Extra 123


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arthur hugh clough


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81 Monologue 124
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hone tuwhare
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82 The Justice of the Peace 126


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hilaire belloc
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83 Before the Sun 127


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charles mungoshi
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Muliebrity
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sujata bhatt
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Contents ix

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She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways

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william wordsworth

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86 Farmhand 131

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james k. baxter

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87 Plenty 132

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isobel dixon
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88 Storyteller ge 134

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liz lochhead

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89 Those Winter Sundays 136

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robert hayden

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90 The Old Familiar Faces 137
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charles lamb
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91 Mid-Term Break
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seamus heaney
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The Listeners
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walter de la mare

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93 Not Waving But Drowning 141


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stevie smith
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94 The Three Fates 142
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Elegy for Drowned Children


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95 143
bruce dawe
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96 The Voice 144


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thomas hardy
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Time
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allen curnow
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98 Dover Beach 146


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matthew arnold
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99 Amends 148
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adrienne rich
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Full Moon and Little Frieda

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101 Lament 150

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gillian clarke

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102 On The Grasshopper and The Cricket 151

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john keats
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103 The Flower-Fed Buffaloes
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vachel lindsay

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104 Report To Wordsworth 153

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boey kim cheng

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105 First Love 154
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john clare
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106 Marrysong
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dennis scott
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So, We’ll Go No More A-Roving


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george gordon, lord byron

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108 Sonnet 43 157


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elizabeth barrett browning
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109 Sonnet 29 158
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edna st vincent millay


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PART 4
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Poems from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (II)


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110 A Different History 161


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sujata bhatt
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111 Pied Beauty 162


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gerard manley hopkins


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112 Continuum 163


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allen curnow
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Horses
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113 164
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edwin muir
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Contents xi

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Hunting Snake

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judith wright

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115 Pike 167

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ted hughes

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116 A Birthday 169

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christina rossetti
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117 The Woodspurge ge 170

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dante gabriel rossetti

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118 The Cockroach 171

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kevin halligan

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119 The City Planners 172
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margaret atwood
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120 The Planners


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boey kim cheng


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Summer Farm
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norman maccaig

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122 Where I Come From 176


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elizabeth brewster
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123 Sonnet: Composed Upon Westminster Bridge 177
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william wordsworth
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The Bay
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124 178
james k. baxter
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125 Where Lies the Land? 179


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arthur hugh clough


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Morse
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les murray
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127 The Man with Night Sweats 181


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thom gunn
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128 Night Sweat 182


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robert lowell
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xii Contents

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Rain

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edward thomas

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130 Any Soul to Any Body 184

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cosmo monkhouse

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131 The Spirit is too Blunt an Instrument 186

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anne stevenson
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132 From Long Distance ge 188

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tony harrison

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133 From Modern Love 189

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george meredith

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134 Funeral Blues 190
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w.h. auden
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135 La Figlia Che Piange


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t.s. eliot
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From Song of Myself


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walt whitman

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137 He Never Expected Much 194


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thomas hardy
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138 The Telephone Call 195
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fleur adcock
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A Consumer’s Report
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peter porter
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140 Request To A Year 199


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judith wright
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On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book


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charles tennyson turner


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142 Ozymandias 201


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percy bysshe shelley


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143 Away, Melancholy 202


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stevie smith
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Contents xiii

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PART 5

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Poems from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (III)
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144 Childhood 207

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frances cornford
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Because I Could Not Stop For Death

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145 208
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emily dickinson

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One Art

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elizabeth bishop

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147 Song: Tears, Idle Tears 210


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alfred, lord tennyson
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148 My Parents 211

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stephen spender
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149 For Heidi With Blue Hair 212


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fleur adcock
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150 Praise Song For My Mother 214


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grace nichols
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Follower
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seamus heaney
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Elegy For My Father’s Father
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152 216
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james k. baxter
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153 The Trees Are Down 218


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charlotte mew
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154 The Trees 220


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philip larkin
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155 Country School 221


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allen curnow
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156 Cambodia 222


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james fenton
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157 Attack 223


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siegfried sassoon
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Reservist
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158 224
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boey kim cheng


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You Cannot Do This

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159 226
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gwendolyn macewen

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160 Anthem For Doomed Youth 227

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wilfred owen

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161 My Dreams Are Of A Field Afar 228

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a.e. housman
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162 Friend ge 229

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hone tuwhare

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163 A Man I Am 231

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stevie smith

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164 Here 232
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165 A Dream
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william allingham
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Time’s Fool
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ruth pitter

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167 Cold In The Earth 236


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emily brontË
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168 À Quoi Bon Dire 238
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charlotte mew
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From The Triumph of Time


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169 239
a.c. swinburne
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170 Meeting At Night 241


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robert browning
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Because I Liked You Better


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a.e. housman
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172 From The Ballad of Reading Gaol 243


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oscar wilde
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Index of First Lines 245


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Acknowledgements 250
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Introduction
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 contains work by more than a hundred poets from all parts of

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the English-speaking world. It goes beyond being a book for students following a course
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for an examination: it is simultaneously a wide-ranging collection of verse for the school

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library, a resource for teachers and students of literature and language, and a handy single

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volume compendium for the general reader. Drawn from four centuries, it covers a great
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variety of poetic forms, styles and subjects, as well as reflecting a great variety of cultures.
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All the choices provide something to enjoy for readers of all ages, including those for whom

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English is not their first language.

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The anthology is arranged in five broad sections, each illustrating the varied and exciting
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ways that poets choose forms, structures and words to shape meaning. Within each section

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the poems have been loosely grouped by theme so that many different connections (not just
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thematic) may be made between them, increasing and enhancing the reader’s enjoyment.

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The reader will find all human experience here: love in its many forms, relationships and
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human personalities; sickness, death and war; nature, animals and the environment; youth
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and age, the rich and the poor. Poems offer an insight into the writer’s innermost thoughts,
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feelings and insights: memory and hope, joy, wonder, grief and reflection are all to be found
within these pages.
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Poetry anthologies tend to belong to one of two main types: anthologies that are standard
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and traditional, or anthologies that concentrate mainly on to the new and contemporary.
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 combines these two approaches but greatly extends the range
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of the pre-twentieth-century poems usually included in such collections. This reflects
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something of the important work that has been done by scholars in recent years in retrieving
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many forgotten poets, challenging the traditional ‘canon’ of poetry. Many significant new
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voices have been emerging – for example, many women poets who had previously been
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written out of poetic history. The twentieth – and early twenty-first-century writing here
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spans the globe, drawing in poets who write in English from places as geographically far
apart as New Zealand, the Caribbean, Canada, India, Singapore and South Africa, for
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example, but all part of a wider community of poets who write in English.
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As you lift the lid on the poems in this anthology, we hope that you will enjoy the diversity
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of voices and continue to explore the world of poetry in English outside these pages.
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xvi Introduction

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A note on glosses to the poems
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Poems whose content is too obscure, or with content that is too specialised have been

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deliberately avoided.

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Short glosses have been provided where the meaning of words, phrases or names (such
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as mythological characters) might not be known.

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It is assumed that readers will have access to and use a good dictionary, so only the most

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obviously obscure words have been glossed. The glosses provided could certainly be added
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to and reworded because that is the nature of poetry: one definition of poetry is that it is
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untranslatable writing.

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Glosses should not be taken to indicate that glossed words have particular significance

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and the glosses do not attempt to ‘explain the poem’. They have been deliberately kept

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to the minimum so that they do not distract from the experience of reading the poem. It
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is important that readers do not feel put off by not knowing every word of a poem on a
first reading; students should be encouraged by the thought that the most sophisticated
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reader will often hesitate and wonder about a meaning, and the poet might want us to do

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just that.
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It is always a good idea to return to a poem more than once: further readings invariably
reveal new depths.
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Separate support material for teachers using part of this anthology as a set text for
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Cambridge Assessment International Education examinations is available from Cambridge


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International.

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Editors’ Acknowledgements
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We would like to thank Stewart Eames, Noel Cassidy and Nick de Somogyi for their help
in the making of this anthology.
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Mary Wilmer and Tim Underhill


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Part 1
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and Early Seventeenth Centuries

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 3

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1

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Song: Why So Pale and Wan, Fond Lover?

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Sir John Suckling
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Why so pale and wan, fond lover?

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Prithee, why so pale?


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Will, when looking well can’t move her,
Looking ill prevail?
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Prithee, why so pale?

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Why so dull and mute, young sinner?


Prithee, why so mute?
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Will, when speaking well can’t win her,


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Saying nothing do’t?


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Prithee, why so mute?

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Quit, quit, for shame; this will not move,


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This cannot take her.
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If of herself she will not love,
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Nothing can make her:


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The devil take her!


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fond – foolish
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prithee – please, may I ask


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4 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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What Thing Is Love?

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George Peele
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What thing is love? – for sure love is a thing.

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It is a prick, it is a sting,
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It is a pretty, pretty thing;
It is a fire, it is a coal,
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Whose flame creeps in at every hole;

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And, as my wit doth best devise,
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Love’s dwelling is in ladies’ eyes,


From whence do glance love’s piercing darts,
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That make such holes into our hearts.


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darts – the arrows shot by Cupid, the Roman god of love


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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 5

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Sonnet 11

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Lady Mary Wroth
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You endless torments that my rest oppress,

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How long will you delight in my sad pain?


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Will never Love your favour more express?
Shall I still live, and ever feel disdain?
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Alas, now stay, and let my grief obtain

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Some end; feed not my heart with sharp distress.
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Let me once see my cruel fortunes gain


At least release, and long-felt woes redress.
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Let not the blame of cruelty disgrace


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The honoured title of your godhead Love;


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Give not just cause for me to say a place

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Is found for rage alone on me to move.


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O quickly end, and do not long debate


My needful aid, lest help do come too late.
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blame – offence, sin


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6 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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4

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Song: Sigh No More, Ladies

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William Shakespeare
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Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,

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Men were deceivers ever;


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One foot in sea, and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.
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Then sigh not so,

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But let them go,
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And be you blithe and bonny,


Converting all your sounds of woe
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Into ‘Hey nonny, nonny’.


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Sing no more ditties, sing no more

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Of dumps so dull and heavy;


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The fraud of men was ever so,


Since summer first was leavy.
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Then sigh not so,
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But let them go


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And be you blithe and bonny,


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Converting all your sounds of woe


Into ‘Hey nonny, nonny’.
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blithe and bonny – merry and beautiful


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‘Hey nonny, nonny’ – a cheerful chorus


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ditties – songs
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dumps – fits of depression


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leavy – leafy, decked with foliage


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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 7

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Song: Weep You No More, Sad Fountains

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Anonymous
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Weep you no more, sad fountains;

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What need you flow so fast?


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Look how the snowy mountains
Heaven’s sun doth gently waste.
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But my sun’s heavenly eyes

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View not your weeping,
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That now lies sleeping
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Softly, now softly lies


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Sleeping.
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Sleep is a reconciling,

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A rest that peace begets:

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Doth not the sun rise smiling


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When fair at even he sets?
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Rest you then, rest, sad eyes,
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Melt not in weeping,


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While she lies sleeping,


Softly, now softly lies
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Sleeping.
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what need you – what reason is there for you to


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waste – erode
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begets – engenders, produces


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fair – finely
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even – evening
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8 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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6

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When I Was Fair And Young

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Queen Elizabeth I
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When I was fair and young, and favour graced me,

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Of many was I sought their mistress for to be.


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But I did scorn them all, and said to them therefore:
‘Go, go, go, seek some otherwhere; importune me no more.’
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How many weeping eyes I made to pine in woe;
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How many sighing hearts I have not skill to show,


But I the prouder grew, and still this spake therefore:
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‘Go, go, go, seek some otherwhere; importune me no more.’


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Then spake fair Venus’ son, that brave victorious boy,

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Saying: ‘You dainty dame, for that you be so coy,

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I will so pluck your plumes as you shall say no more:


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“Go, go, go, seek some otherwhere; importune me no more”.’
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As soon as he had said, such change grew in my breast


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That neither night nor day I could take any rest.


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Wherefore I did repent that I had said before:


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‘Go, go, go, seek some otherwhere; importune me no more.’


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favour – good looks


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importune – solicit, proposition


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spake – said, spoke


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Venus – Roman goddess of love (mother of Cupid)


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for that you be – since you are being


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pluck your plumes – remove your finery


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wherefore – for which


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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 9

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7

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They Flee From Me, That Sometime Did Me Seek

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Sir Thomas Wyatt
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They flee from me, that sometime did me seek,

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With naked foot stalking in my chamber.


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I have seen them, gentle, tame, and meek,
That now are wild, and do not remember
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That sometime they put themselves in danger

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To take bread at my hand; and now they range,
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Busily seeking with a continual change.


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Thankèd be fortune it hath been otherwise,


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Twenty times better; but once in special,


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In thin array, after a pleasant guise,

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When her loose gown from her shoulders did fall,


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And she me caught in her arms long and small,


Therewith all sweetly did me kiss,
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And softly said, ‘Dear heart, how like you this?’
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It was no dream, I lay broad waking,


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But all is turned, thorough my gentleness,


Into a strange fashion of forsaking;
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And I have leave to go, of her goodness,


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And she also to use newfangleness.


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But since that I so kindly am servèd


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I fain would know what she hath deservèd.


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in special – in particular
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guise – manner, way


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small – slender
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broad waking – wide awake


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thorough – through, via


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forsaking – abandonment
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newfangleness – fashionable fickleness


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kindly – appropriately
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fain – gladly
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10 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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8

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Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part

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(Sonnet 61 from Idea)

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Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part;


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Nay, I have done, you get no more of me,
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And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart

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That thus so cleanly I myself can free;
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Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,


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And when we meet at any time again,


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Be it not seen in either of our brows


That we one jot of former love retain.
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Now at the last gasp of love’s latest breath,


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When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies,
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When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death,


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And Innocence is closing up his eyes;


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Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,


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From death to life thou mightst him yet recover.
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there’s no help – there’s nothing for it


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I have done – I have finished


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yea – yes, indeed


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latest – final
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given him over – given him up for dead


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yet – still
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 11

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Song: Go, Lovely Rose!

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Edmund Waller
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Go, lovely rose!

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Tell her that wastes her time and me


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That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
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How sweet and fair she seems to be.

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Tell her that’s young,


And shuns to have her graces spied,
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That hadst thou sprung


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In deserts, where no men abide,


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Thou must have uncommended died.

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Small is the worth


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Of beauty from the light retired;
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Bid her come forth,
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Suffer herself to be desired,


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And not blush so to be admired.


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Then die! that she


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The common fate of all things rare


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May read in thee;


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How small a part of time they share


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That are so wondrous sweet and fair!


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resemble – compare
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shuns – is reluctant
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suffer – allow
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12 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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No Crooked Leg, No Bleared Eye

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Queen Elizabeth I
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No crookèd leg, no blearèd eye,

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No part deformèd out of kind,


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Nor yet so ugly half can be
As is the inward suspicious mind.
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out of kind – unnaturally


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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 13

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11

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With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb’st the skies

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(Sonnet 31 from Astrophil and Stella)

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R

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ge Sir Philip Sidney

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With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb’st the skies!


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How silently, and with how wan a face!
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What, may it be that even in heavenly place

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That busy archer his sharp arrows tries?
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Sure, if that long-with-love-acquainted eyes


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Can judge of love, thou feel’st a lover’s case,


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I read it in thy looks; thy languished grace,


To me that feel the like, thy state descries.
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Then, even of fellowship, O Moon, tell me,


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Is constant love deemed there but want of wit?
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Are beauties there as proud as here they be?


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Do they above love to be loved, and yet


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Those lovers scorn whom that love doth possess?


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Do they call virtue there ungratefulness?
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am

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that busy archer – Cupid, the Roman love-god, who fired arrows of love
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tries – tests
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if that – if it is true that


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case – situation
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languished grace – graceful sadness


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state – circumstance, situation


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descries – discovers, betrays


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of fellowship – in the name of solidarity


want of wit – stupidity
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14 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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12

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Written The Night Before His Execution

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Chidiock Tichbourne
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My prime of youth is but a frost of cares;

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My feast of joy is but a dish of pain;


am

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My crop of corn is but a field of tares;
And all my good is but vain hope of gain;
-C

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My life is fled, and yet I saw no sun;

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And now I live, and now my life is done.
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The spring is past, and yet it hath not sprung;


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The fruit is dead, and yet the leaves be green;


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My youth is gone, and yet I am but young;


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I saw the world, and yet I was not seen;

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My thread is cut, and yet it is not spun;

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R

And now I live, and now my life is done.


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I sought my death, and found it in my womb,
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I looked for life, and saw it was a shade,


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I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb,


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And now I die, and now I am but made:


-R

The glass is full, and now my glass is run,


-C

And now I live, and now my life is done.


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tares – weeds
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glass – hourglass (an early device to measure time, using sand running through a glass)
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 15

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The Author’s Epitaph, Made By Himself

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Sir Walter Raleigh
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Even such is time, which takes in trust

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Our youth, our joys, and all we have,


am

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And pays us but with age and dust,
Who in the dark and silent grave
-C

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When we have wandered all our ways

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Shuts up the story of our days,
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And from which earth, and grave, and dust,


The Lord shall raise me up, I trust.
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16 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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A Litany In Time Of Plague

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Thomas Nashe
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Adieu, farewell, earth’s bliss;

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This world uncertain is;


am

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Fond are life’s lustful joys;
Death proves them all but toys;
-C

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None from his darts can fly;

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I am sick, I must die.
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Pr
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Lord, have mercy on us!


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Rich men, trust not in wealth,


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Gold cannot buy you health;


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Physic himself must fade.

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All things to end are made,


R

The plague full swift goes by;


I am sick, I must die.
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Lord, have mercy on us!
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ev
br

Beauty is but a flower


am

Which wrinkles will devour;


-R

Brightness falls from the air;


-C

Queens have died young and fair;


s
es

Dust hath closed Helen’s eye.


y

I am sick, I must die.


Pr
op

Lord, have mercy on us!


ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

litany – long prayer


ge

fond – foolish
ie
id

physic – medical skill


ev
br

Helen – legendarily beautiful woman, Helen of Troy


am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 17

-C

s
es
Strength stoops unto the grave,
y Worms feed on Hector brave;

Pr
op
Swords may not fight with fate,

ity
Earth still holds ope her gate.
C

‘Come, come!’ the bells do cry.

rs
w

I am sick, I must die.


ie

ve
Lord, have mercy on us!

y
ev

op
ni
R

U
Wit with his wantonness

C
Tasteth death’s bitterness;
ge

w
Hell’s executioner

ie
id
Hath no ears for to hear

ev
br

What vain art can reply.


am

-R
I am sick, I must die.
Lord, have mercy on us!
-C

s
es
Haste, therefore, each degree,
y

Pr
To welcome destiny;
op

Heaven is our heritage,


ity
C

Earth but a player’s stage;


rs
w

Mount we unto the sky.


ie

ve

I am sick, I must die.

y
ev

Lord, have mercy on us!

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w

Hector – legendarily valiant warrior


ie

ve

ope – open
y
ev

bells – church bells tolling a death


op
ni

wit – intelligence
R

wantonness – lewdness
ge

art – skill
ie
id

degree – level of society


ev
br

heritage – inheritance
player – actor
am

-R
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18 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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es
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Pr
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15

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Come darkest night, becoming sorrow best

y
ev

op
ni
(Sonnet 19 from Pamphilia to Amphilanthus)
R

C
Lady Mary Wroth
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

Come, darkest night, becoming sorrow best;

-R
Light, leave thy light, fit for a lightsome soul;
-C

Darkness doth truly suit with me oppressed,

s
es
Whom absence’ power doth from mirth control:
y

The very trees with hanging heads condole


Pr
op

Sweet summer’s parting, and of leaves distressed


ity
C

In dying colours make a grief-ful roll,


So much, alas, to sorrow are they pressed.
rs
w

Thus of dead leaves her farewell carpet’s made:


ie

ve

y
Their fall, their branches, all their mournings prove,
ev

op
ni

With leafless, naked bodies, whose hues fade


R

C
From hopeful green, to wither in their love:
ge

If trees and leaves for absence mourners be,


w
No marvel that I grieve, who like want see.
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

lightsome – carefree
C
ge

from mirth control – exercise power over happiness


w

condole – commiserate with


ie
id

roll – catalogue
ev
br

like want – a similar lack


am

-R
-C

s
es

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id

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 19

-C

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es
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Pr
op
16

ity
C

rs
w
ie

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From Underwoods

y
ev

op
ni
Ben Jonson
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

It is not growing like a tree


In bulk, doth make man better be,
am

-R
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
-C

To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:

s
es
A lily of a day
y

Is fairer far in May Pr


op

Although it fall and die that night;


ity

It was the plant and flower of light.


C

In small proportions we just beauties see,


rs
w

And in short measures life may perfect be.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
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s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
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ie

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y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

just – proper
am

-R
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es

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20 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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es
y

Pr
op
17

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Song: Fear No More The Heat O’ Th’ Sun

y
ev

op
ni
William Shakespeare
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Fear no more the heat o’ th’ sun

ev
br

Nor the furious winter’s rages;


am

-R
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages.
-C

s
Golden lads and girls all must,

es
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
y

Pr
op

Fear no more the frown o’ th’ great;


ity
C

Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke.


rs
w

Care no more to clothe and eat;


ie

ve

To thee the reed is as the oak.

y
ev

op
ni

The sceptre, learning, physic, must


R

All follow this and come to dust.

C
ge

w
Fear no more the lighning flash,
ie
id

Nor th’all-dreaded thunder-stone;


ev
br

Fear not slander, censure rash;


am

-R

Thou hast finished joy and moan.


All lovers young, all lovers must
-C

Consign to thee and come to dust.


es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

ta’en – taken
op
ni

past the tyrant’s stroke – beyond the reach of the tyrant’s blow
R

the sceptre – symbol of power


ge

physic – medical skill


w
ie

thunder-stone – thunderbolt
id

ev

censure rash – sharp criticism


br

consign to – submit to the circumstance of


am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

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br
am

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 21

-C

s
es
No exorciser harm thee!
y Nor no witchcraft charm thee!

Pr
op
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!

ity
Nothing ill come near thee!
C

Quiet consummation have,

rs
w

And renownèd be thy grave!


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ghost unlaid forbear thee – may your soul rest untroubled


ev
br

consummation – completion, fulfilment


am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
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22 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Pr
op
18

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C

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A Song

y
ev

op
ni
Thomas Carew
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Ask me no more where Jove bestows,

ev
br

When June is past, the fading rose;


am

-R
For in your beauty’s orient deep
These flowers, as in their causes, sleep.
-C

s
es
Ask me no more whither do stray
y

The golden atoms of the day;


Pr
op

For in pure love heaven did prepare


ity

Those powders to enrich your hair.


C

rs
w

Ask me no more whither doth haste


ie

ve

The nightingale when May is past;

y
ev

For in your sweet-dividing throat

op
ni

She winters, and keeps warm her note.


R

Ask me no more where those stars light,


C
ge

w
That downwards fall in dead of night;
ie
id

For in your eyes they sit, and there


ev
br

Fixèd become, as in their sphere.


am

-R

Ask me no more if east or west


The phoenix builds her spicy nest;
-C

For unto you at last she flies,


es

And in your fragrant bosom dies.


y

Pr
op

ity
C

Jove – the Roman god Jupiter


rs
w

bestows – disposes of
ie

ve

orient – (1) (noun) sunrise; (2) (adjective) lustrous, brilliant


ev

op
ni

as in their causes – to the same extent as their origins


R

sweet-dividing – melodiously singing


C
ge

winters – stays the winter


w

light – alight
ie
id

sphere – what people believed to be the crystal sphere of the night-sky


ev
br

phoenix – mythical bird that built its nest from spices, burnt itself, and was born from
am

-R

its own ashes


-C

s
es

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id

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 23

-C

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es
y

Pr
op
19

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Walsingham

y
ev

op
ni
Sir Walter Raleigh
R

C
ge

w
ie
id
‘As you came from the holy land

ev
br

Of Walsingham,
am

-R
Met you not with my true love
By the way as you came?’
-C

s
es
‘How shall I know your true love,
y

Pr
That have met many one
op

As I went from the holy land,


ity
C

That have come, that have gone?’


rs
w
ie

ve

‘She is neither white nor brown,

y
ev

But as the heavens fair:

op
ni

There is none hath a form so divine


R

C
In the earth or the air.’
ge

w
ie
id

‘Such an one I did meet, sir,


ev
br

Such an angelic face,


Who like a queen, like a nymph, did appear
am

-R

By her gait, by her grace.’


-C

s
es

‘She hath left me here alone,


y

All alone, as unknown,


Pr
op

Who sometimes did me lead with herself


ity

And me loved as her own.’


C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

nymph – legendary semi-divine maiden


am

-R
-C

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-R
24 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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‘What’s the cause that she leaves you alone
y And a new way doth take,

Pr
op
That sometime did you love as her own,

ity
C

And her joy did you make?’

rs
w

‘I have loved her all my youth,


ie

ve

y
But now am old, as you see:
ev

op
ni
Love likes not the falling fruit.
R

U
Nor the withered tree.’

C
ge

w
‘Know that love is a careless child,

ie
id

And forgets promise past:

ev
br

He is blind, he is deaf when he list,


am

-R
And in faith never fast.
-C

s
‘His desire is a dureless content,

es
And a trustless joy;
y

Pr
op

He is won with a world of despair,


And is lost with a toy.
ity
C

rs
w

‘Of womenkind such indeed is the love


ie

ve

(Or the word love abused)

y
ev

Under which many childish desires

op
ni
R

And conceits are excused.


U

C
ge

w
‘But true love is a durable fire,
ie
id

In the mind ever burning,


ev
br

Never sick, never dead, never cold,


am

From itself never turning.’


-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

when he list – when it pleases him


w

fast – constant
ie
id

dureless – transient
ev
br

toy – unimportant thing


am

-R
-C

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es

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id

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am

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 25

-C

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Pr
op
20

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
The Flowers That on The Banks and

y
ev

op
ni
Walks Did Grow
R

C
Aemilia Lanyer
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

The flowers that on the banks and walks did grow


am

-R
Crept in the ground, the grass did weep for woe;
The winds and waters seemed to chide together
-C

s
Because you went away they knew not whither;

es
And those sweet brooks that ran so fair and clear,
y

Pr
op

With grief and trouble wrinkled did appear.


Those pretty birds that wonted were to sing,
ity
C

Now neither sing, nor chirp, nor use their wing;


rs
w

But with their tender feet on some bare spray,


ie

ve

Warble forth sorrow and their own dismay.

y
ev

op
ni

Fair Philomela leaves her mournful ditty,


R

Drowned in dead sleep, yet can procure no pity.


Each arbour, bank, each seat, each stately tree
C
ge

w
Looks bare and desolate now for want of thee.
ie
id

Turning green tresses into frosty grey,


ev
br

While in cold grief they wither all away.


am

-R

The sun grew weak, his beams no comfort gave,


While all green things did make the earth their grave.
-C

Each brier, each bramble, when you went away,


es

Caught fast your clothes, thinking to make you stay.


y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

chide together – quarrel with each other


op
ni

wonted – accustomed
R

spray – twig, branch


ge

Philomela – in Greek myth, Philomela was transformed into a nightingale, and sang
w
ie
id

of her cruel treatment by King Tereus


ev

ditty – song
br

arbour – garden, flower-bed


am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
26 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
es
Delightful Echo, wonted to reply
y To our last words, did now for sorrow die.

Pr
op
The house cast off each garment that might grace it,

ity
C

Putting on dust and cobwebs to deface it.


All desolation then there did appear,

rs
w

When you were going, whom they held so dear.


ie

ve

y
This last farewell to Cookham here I give:
ev

op
ni
When I am dead thy name in this may live,
R

U
Wherein I have performed her noble hest,

C
ge
Whose virtues lodge in my unworthy breast,

w
And ever shall, so long as life remains,

ie
id

Tying my heart to her by those rich chains.

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

Echo – in Greek myth, Echo was a nymph who, in unrequited love, pined away till
ge

only her voice remained


w

wonted – accustomed
ie
id

Cookham – the home of the author’s friend


ev
br

hest – command, behest


am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

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br
am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 27

-C

s
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Pr
op
21

ity
C

rs
w
ie

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Come Live with me, and be my Love

y
ev

op
ni
Christopher Marlowe
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Come live with me, and be my love,

ev
br

And we will all the pleasures prove


am

-R
That valleys, groves, hills and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountains yields.
-C

s
es
And we will sit upon the rocks,
y

Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks


Pr
op

By shallow rivers, to whose falls


ity
C

Melodious birds sing madrigals.


rs
w

And I will make thee beds of roses


ie

ve

And a thousand fragrant posies,

y
ev

op
ni

A cap of flowers, and a kirtle


R

Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle,

C
ge

A gown made of our finest wool,


w
Which from our pretty lambs we pull,
ie
id

Fair linèd slippers for the cold,


ev
br

With buckles of the purest gold,


am

-R

A belt of straw and ivy buds


-C

With coral clasps and amber studs:


s
es

And if these pleasures may thee move,


y

Come live with me, and be my love.


Pr
op

The shepherd swains shall dance and sing


ity
C

For thy delight each May morning:


rs
w

‘If these delights thy mind may move,


ie

ve

Then live with me, and be my love.’


y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

falls – (1) waterfalls; (2) cadences


w

kirtle – dress
ie
id

myrtle – an evergreen shrub


ev
br

swains – country youths


am

-R
-C

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28 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Sonnet 54

y
ev

op
ni
Edmund Spenser
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Of this world’s theatre in which we stay,

ev
br

My love like the spectator idly sits,


am

-R
Beholding me, that all the pageants play,
Disguising diversly my troubled wits.
-C

s
Sometimes I joy when glad occasion fits,

es
And mask in mirth like to a comedy:
y

Pr
op

Soon after, when my joy to sorrow flits,


I wail, and make my woes a tragedy.
ity
C

Yet she, beholding me with constant eye,


rs
w

Delights not in my mirth nor rues my smart:


ie

ve

But when I laugh she mocks, and when I cry

y
ev

op
ni

She laughs, and hardens evermore her heart.


R

What then can move her? If nor mirth nor moan,


She is no woman, but a senseless stone.
C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

diversly – variously
ie
id

smart – pain
ev
br

nor . . . nor – neither . . . nor


am

-R
-C

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 29

-C

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Pr
op
23

ity
C

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w
ie

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What is Our Life?

y
ev

op
ni
Sir Walter Raleigh
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

What is our life? A play of passion;

ev
br

Our mirth the music of division;


am

-R
Our mothers’ wombs the tiring-houses be,
Where we are dressed for this short comedy.
-C

s
Heaven the judicious sharp spectator is,

es
That sits and marks still who doth act amiss;
y

Pr
op

Our graves that hide us from the searching sun


Are like drawn curtains when the play is done.
ity
C

Thus march we, playing, to our latest rest,


rs
w

Only we die in earnest – that’s no jest.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

music of division – music played between the acts of a play


ge

tiring-houses – dressing rooms


w

judicious sharp – wisely critical


ie
id

still – ever
ev
br

latest – final
am

-R
-C

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es

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ie
id

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am

-R
30 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Pr
op
24

ity
C

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Sonnet 75

y
ev

op
ni
Edmund Spenser
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,

ev
br

But came the waves, and washèd it away:


am

-R
Again I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.
-C

s
‘Vain man,’ said she, ‘that dost in vain assay

es
A mortal thing so to immortalise;
y

Pr
op

For I myself shall like to this decay,


And eke my name be wipèd out likewise.’
ity
C

‘Not so,’ quod I, ‘let baser things devise


rs
w

To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:


ie

ve

My verse your virtues rare shall eternise,

y
ev

op
ni

And in the heavens write your glorious name:


R

Where, whenas death shall all the world subdue,

C
Our love shall live, and later life renew.’
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

strand – beach
y
ev

pains – troublesome labours


op
ni

assay – attempt
R

eke – also
ge

quod – said
ie
id

devise – intend
ev
br

eternise – render immortal


whenas – when
am

-R
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ie
id

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 31

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Pr
op
25

ity
C

rs
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ie

ve
Song: Spring, The Sweet Spring

y
ev

op
ni
Thomas Nashe
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Spring, the sweet spring, is the year’s pleasant king,

ev
br

Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,


am

-R
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing:
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-wee, to-witta-woo!
-C

s
es
The palm and may make country houses gay,
y

Pr
op

Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,


And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay:
ity
C

Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-wee, to-witta-woo!


rs
w
ie

ve

The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,

y
ev

op
ni

Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,


R

In every street these tunes our ears do greet:


Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-wee, to-witta-woo!
C
ge

w
Spring, the sweet spring!
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-wee, to-witta-woo! – the songs of the cuckoo, nightingale, lapwing,
ge

and owl
ie

the palm and may – festival decorations


id

ev

aye – ever
br

lay – song
am

-R
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Sonnet 18

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William Shakespeare
R

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Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

ev
br

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:


am

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Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
-C

s
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines

es
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
y

Pr
op

And every fair from fair sometime declines,


By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed.
ity
C

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,


rs
w

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;


ie

ve

Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,

y
ev

op
ni

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:


R

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,


So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
C
ge

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am

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ity
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temperate – moderate, evenly tempered


y
ev

lease – terms of a tenancy agreement


op
ni

the eye of heaven – the sun


R

every fair – all that is beautiful


ge

untrimmed – (1) stripped of decoration; (2) thrown off balance


ie
id

ow’st – possess, own


ev
br

shade – darkness, shadow


this – this poem
am

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 33

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Sonnet 73

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William Shakespeare
R

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That time of year thou mayst in me behold

ev
br

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang


am

-R
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.
-C

s
In me thou see’st the twilight of such day

es
As after sunset fadeth in the west:
y

Pr
op

Which by and by black night doth take away,


Death’s second self that seals up all in rest.
ity
C

In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire,


rs
w

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,


ie

ve

As the deathbed whereon it must expire,

y
ev

op
ni

Consumed with that which it was nourished by.


R

This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,


To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
C
ge

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am

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y
ev

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R

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choirs – part of churches where hymns are sung


ie
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see’st – see
ev
br

consumed with – eaten up by


am

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34 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Song: Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

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William Shakespeare
R

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ge

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Blow, blow, thou winter wind,

ev
br

Thou art not so unkind


am

-R
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
-C

s
Because thou art not seen,

es
Although thy breath be rude.
y

Pr
op

Heigh-ho, sing heigh-ho, unto the green holly;


Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.
ity
C

Then heigh-ho, the holly,


rs
w

This life is most jolly!


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,


R

That dost not bite so nigh


As benefits forgot:
C
ge

w
Though thou the waters warp,
ie
id

Thy sting is not so sharp


ev
br

As friend remembered not.


am

-R

Heigh-ho, sing heigh-ho, unto the green holly;


Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.
-C

Then heigh-ho, the holly,


es

This life is most jolly!


y

Pr
op

ity
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y
ev

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R

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keen – sharp
w

rude – harsh
ie
id

benefits forgot – neglected favours


ev
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warp – wrinkle (into ice)


am

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 35

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The Procession of The Seasons

y
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Edmund Spenser
R

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ge

w
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So forth issued the seasons of the year.

ev
br

First, lusty Spring, all dight in leaves of flowers


am

-R
That freshly budded and new blooms did bear,
In which a thousand birds had built their bowers
-C

s
That sweetly sung to call forth paramours,

es
And in his hand a javelin he did bear,
y

Pr
op

And on his head, as fit for warlike stours,


A gilt-engraven morion he did wear,
ity
C

That, as some did him love, so others did him fear.


rs
w
ie

ve

Then came the jolly Summer, being dight

y
ev

op
ni

In a thin silken cassock coloured green


R

That was unlinèd all, to be more light,


And on his head a garland well beseen
C
ge

w
He wore, from which as he had chafèd been
ie
id

The sweat did drop; and in his hand he bore


ev
br

A bow and shafts, as he in forest green


am

-R

Had hunted late the leopard or the boar


And now would bathe his limbs, with labour heated sore.
-C

s
es
y

Pr

lusty – vigorous
op

dight – dressed
ity
C

bowers – leafy glades, arbours


rs
w

paramours – lovers
ie

ve

stours – encounters
y
ev

morion – helmet
op
ni

cassock – long coat


R

unlinèd – without a lining


ge

well beseen – handsome of appearance


ie
id

chafèd – heated
ev
br

shafts – arrows
sore – painfully
am

-R
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36 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Then came the Autumn all in yellow clad
y As though he joyèd in his plenteous store,

Pr
op
Laden with fruits that made him laugh, full glad

ity
C

That he had banished hunger, which to-fore


Had by the belly oft him pinchèd sore;

rs
w

Upon his head a wreath, that was enrolled


ie

ve

y
With ears of corn of every sort, he bore,
ev

op
ni
And in his hand a sickle he did hold
R

U
To reap the ripened fruits the which the earth had yold.

C
ge

w
Lastly came Winter clothèd all in frieze,

ie
id

Chattering his teeth for cold that did him chill,

ev
br

Whilst on his hoary beard his breath did freeze;


am

-R
And the dull drops that from his purpled bill,
As from a limbeck, did adown distil.
-C

s
In his right hand a tippèd staff he held

es
With which his feeble steps he stayèd still,
y

Pr
op

For he was faint with cold and weak with eld


That scarce his loosèd limbs he able was to wield.
ity
C

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y
ev

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R

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am

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to-fore – previously
y

pinchèd – tormented
Pr
op

corn – grain
ity
C

yold – yielded
frieze – coarse woollen cloth
rs
w

hoary – white with age


ie

ve

bill – nose
ev

op
ni

limbeck – apparatus for distilling


R

adown – downwards
ge

stayèd – supported
w

still – always
ie
id

eld – old age


ev
br

loosèd – weakened
am

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 37

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The Man of Life Upright

y
ev

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Thomas Campion
R

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ge

w
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The man of life upright,

ev
br

Whose guiltless heart is free


am

-R
From all dishonest deeds
Or thought of vanity;
-C

s
es
The man whose silent days
y

In harmless joys are spent,


Pr
op

Whom hopes cannot delude


ity
C

Nor sorrow discontent:


rs
w

That man needs neither towers


ie

ve

Nor armour for defence,

y
ev

Nor secret vaults to fly

op
ni

From thunder’s violence.


R

C
ge

He only can behold


w
With unaffrighted eyes
ie
id

The horrors of the deep


ev
br

And terrors of the skies.


am

-R

Thus scorning all the cares


-C

That fate or fortune brings,


s
es

He makes the heaven his book,


y

His wisdom heavenly things;


Pr
op

Good thoughts his only friends,


ity
C

His wealth a well-spent age,


rs
w

The earth his sober inn


ie

ve

And quiet pilgrimage.


y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev

secret vaults – hiding-places


br

unaffrighted – unafraid
am

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age – life
-C

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38 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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A Mind Content

y
ev

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Robert Greene
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content;

ev
br

The quiet mind is richer than a crown;


am

-R
Sweet are the nights in careless slumber spent;
The poor estate scorns fortune’s angry frown:
-C

s
Such sweet content, such minds, such sleep, such bliss,

es
Beggars enjoy, when princes oft do miss.
y

Pr
op

The homely house that harbours quiet rest;


ity
C

The cottage that affords no pride nor care;


rs
w

The mean that ’grees with country music best;


ie

ve

The sweet consort of mirth and music’s fare;

y
ev

op
ni

Obscurèd life sets down a type of bliss:


R

A mind content both crown and kingdom is.

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
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am

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s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

savour – taste
rs
w

careless – untroubled
ie

ve

estate – level of society


ev

op
ni

mean – (1) lowly sort; (2) middle range in music


R

’grees with – agrees with, suits


C
ge

consort – company (of musicians)


w

fare – provision, merriment


ie
id

obscurèd – anonymous
ev
br

type – ideal sort


am

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 39

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I Grieve, and Dare Not Show my Discontent

y
ev

op
ni
Queen Elizabeth I
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

I grieve, and dare not show my discontent;

ev
br

I love, and yet am forced to seem to hate;


am

-R
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,
I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate.
-C

s
I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned,

es
Since from myself another self I turned.
y

Pr
op

My care is like my shadow in the sun:


ity
C

Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,


rs
w

Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done;


ie

ve

His too familiar care doth make me rue it.

y
ev

op
ni

No means I find to rid him from my breast,


R

Till by the end of things it be suppressed.

C
ge

w
Some gentler passion slide into my mind,
ie
id

For I am soft and made of melting snow;


ev
br

Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind.


am

-R

Let me or float or sink, be high or low.


Or let me live with some more sweet content,
-C

Or die and so forget what love ere meant.


es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

stark – entirely
ev

op
ni

prate – chatter
R

turned – (1) fashioned; (2) became


C
ge

care – (1) trouble, unhappiness; (2) carefulness, solicitude


w

rue – regret
ie
id

or . . . or – either . . . or
ev
br

ere – before
am

-R
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40 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Song: To Celia

y
ev

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Ben Jonson
R

C
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w
ie
id

Drink to me only with thine eyes,

ev
br

And I will pledge with mine;


am

-R
And leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.
-C

s
es
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
y

Pr
op

Doth ask a drink divine,


But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
ity
C

I would not change for thine.


rs
w
ie

ve

I sent thee late a rosy wreath,

y
ev

op
ni

Not so much honouring thee


R

As giving it a hope that there


It could not withered be.
C
ge

w
ie
id

But thou thereon didst only breathe


ev
br

And sent’st it back to me,


am

-R

Since when it breathes and smells, I swear,


Not of itself but thee.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
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ity
C

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w
ie

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y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

ask – demand
w

Jove – Jupiter, the supreme god of Roman mythology


ie
id

nectar – the drink of the gods


ev
br

sup – drink
am

-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 41

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Golden Slumbers

y
ev

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Thomas Dekker
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,

ev
br

Smiles awake you when you rise.


am

-R
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby:
-C

s
Rock them, rock them, lullaby.

es
y

Pr
op

Care is heavy, therefore sleep you;


You are care, and care must keep you.
ity
C

Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,


rs
w

And I will sing a lullaby:


ie

ve

Rock them, rock them, lullaby.

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
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w
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am

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ity
C

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y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

wantons – naughty children


w

care – (1) worldly preoccupation, sorrow; (2) the object of cherishing; (3) attentive
ie
id

solicitude
ev
br

sleep you – go to sleep


am

-R
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42 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Song: Full Fathom Five

y
ev

op
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William Shakespeare
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Full fathom five thy father lies;

ev
br

Of his bones are coral made;


am

-R
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
-C

s
But doth suffer a sea-change

es
Into something rich and strange.
y

Pr
op

Sea nymphs hourly ring his knell:


Ding-dong.
ity
C

Hark! now I hear them – Ding-dong, bell.


rs
w
ie

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y
ev

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R

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id

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am

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C

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y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

full fathom five – five fathoms deep (1 fathom = 6 feet)


w

suffer – undergo
ie
id

nymphs – in Greek myth, semi-divine maidens


ev
br

knell – funeral bell


am

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 43

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A Farewell To The Reader

y
ev

op
ni
Isabella Whitney
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Good reader, now you tasted have

ev
br

And smelt of all my flowers,


am

-R
The which to get some pain I took,
And travailed many hours.
-C

s
I must request you spoil them not,

es
Nor do in pieces tear them;
y

Pr
op

But if thyself do loathe the scent,


Give others leave to wear them.
ity
C

I shall no whit be discontent,


rs
w

For nothing is so pure


ie

ve

But one or other will mislike,

y
ev

op
ni

Thereof we may be sure.


R

If he for whom I gathered them


Take pleasure in the same,
C
ge

w
And that for my presumption
ie
id

My friends do not me blame;


ev
br

And that the savour take effect


am

-R

In such as I do know,
And bring no harm to any else,
-C

In place where it shall go;


es

And that when I am distant far,


y

Pr

It worn be for my sake;


op

That some may say, ‘God speed her well


ity
C

That did this nosegay make.’


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

travailed – laboured
R

give others leave to – allow others to


C
ge

no whit – not in the least


w

mislike – fail to impress


ie
id

savour – odour, bouquet


ev
br

nosegay – bouquet of flowers


am

-R
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s
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R R R
ev ev ev
ie ie ie
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C C C
op op op
y y y
-C -C -C -C
am am am am
br br br br
id id id id
ge ge ge
U U U
ni ni ni
ve ve ve
rs rs rs
ity ity ity
Pr Pr Pr
es es es es
s s s s
-R -R -R -R
ev ev ev ev
ie ie ie ie
w w w

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C C C
op op op
y y y
R R R
ev ev ev
ie ie ie
w w w
C C C
op op op
y y y
-C -C -C -C
am am am am
br br br br
id id id id
ge ge ge
U U U
ni ni ni
ve ve ve
rs rs rs
ity ity ity
Part 2
Pr Pr Pr
es es es es
s s s s
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ev ev and Eighteenth Centuries ev ev
Poems from the Seventeenth
ie ie ie ie
w w w

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C C C
op op op
y y y
R R R
ev ev ev
ie ie ie
w w w
C C C
op op op
y y y
-C -C -C -C
am am am am
br br br br
id id id id
ge ge ge
U U U
ni ni ni
ve ve ve
rs rs rs
ity ity ity
Pr Pr Pr
es es es es
s s s s
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ev ev ev ev
ie ie ie ie
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 47

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The Fly

y
ev

op
ni
William Blake
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Little Fly,
Thy summer’s play
am

-R
My thoughtless hand
-C

Has brush’d away.

s
es
y

Am not I
Pr
op

A fly like thee?


ity
C

Or art not thou


A man like me?
rs
w
ie

ve

y
For I dance,
ev

op
ni

And drink, & sing,


R

Till some blind hand


C
ge

Shall brush my wing.


w
ie
id

If thought is life,
ev
br

And strength & breath,


am

-R

And the want


Of thought is death;
-C

s
es

Then am I
y

Pr
op

A happy fly,
If I live
ity
C

or if I die.
rs
w
ie

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y
ev

op
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R

C
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48 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Shadows In The Water

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ev

op
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Thomas Traherne
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

In unexperienced infancy
Many a sweet mistake doth lie:
am

-R
Mistake though false, intending true,
A seeming somewhat more than view,
-C

s
es
That doth instruct the mind
y

In things that lie behind,


Pr
op

And many secrets to us show


ity

Which afterwards we come to know.


C

rs
w

Thus did I by the water’s brink


ie

ve

y
Another world beneath me think;
ev

op
ni

And while the lofty spacious skies,


R

Reversèd there, abused mine eyes,


C
ge

I fancied other feet


w
Came mine to touch and meet;
ie
id

As by some puddle I did play,


ev
br

Another world within it lay.


am

-R

Beneath the water people drowned,


-C

Yet with another heaven crowned,


es

In spacious regions seemed to go,


y

Pr
op

Freely moving to and fro:


In bright and open space
ity
C

I saw their very face;


rs
w

Eyes, hands, and feet they had like mine;


ie

ve

Another sun did with them shine.


y
ev

op
ni
R

shadows – images
C
ge

unexperienced – inexperienced
w

intending – meaning
ie
id

brink – edge
ev
br

abused – misled
am

-R

fancied – playfully imagined


crowned – surmounted, canopied
-C

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 49

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’Twas strange that people there should walk,
y And yet I could not hear them talk;

Pr
op
That through a little watery chink,

ity
Which one dry ox or horse might drink,
C

We other worlds should see,

rs
w

Yet not admitted be;


ie

ve
And other confines there behold

y
ev

op
ni
Of light and darkness, heat and cold.
R

C
ge
I called them oft, but called in vain;

w
No speeches we could entertain:

ie
id

Yet did I there expect to find

ev
br

Some other world, to please my mind.


am

-R
I plainly saw by these
A new Antipodes,
-C

s
Whom, though they were so plainly seen,

es
A film kept off that stood between.
y

Pr
op

By walking men’s reversèd feet


ity
C

I chanced another world to meet;


rs
w

Though it did not to view exceed


ie

ve

A phantasm, ’tis a world indeed,

y
ev

Where skies beneath us shine,

op
ni

And earth by art divine


R

C
Another face presents below,
ge

w
Where people’s feet against ours go.
ie
id

ev
br

Within the regions of the air,


am

Compassed about with heavens fair,


-R

Great tracts of land there may be found,


-C

Enriched with fields and fertile ground;


s
es

Where many numerous hosts,


y

In those far distant coasts,


Pr
op

For other great and glorious ends,


ity
C

Inhabit, my yet-unknown friends.


rs
w
ie

ve

entertain – conduct
y
ev

op
ni

Antipodes – the supposed land-of-opposites situated on the underside of the globe


R

kept off – stood out


C
ge

phantasm – shadowy vision


w

art – creative skill


ie
id

compassed about with – surrounded by


ev
br

hosts – crowds of people


am

-R

ends – purposes
-C

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50 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
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O ye that stand upon the brink,
y Whom I so near me, through the chink,

Pr
op
With wonder see: what faces there,

ity
Whose feet, whose bodies, do ye wear?
C

I, my companions, see

rs
w

In you another me.


ie

ve
They seemèd others, but are we;

y
ev

op
ni
Our second selves those shadows be!
R

C
ge Look how far off those lower skies

w
Extend themselves! Scarce with mine eyes

ie
id

I can them reach. O ye, my friends,

ev
br

What secret borders on those ends?


am

-R
Are lofty heavens hurled
’Bout your inferior world?
-C

s
Are ye the representatives

es
Of other people’s distant lives?
y

Pr
op

Of all the playmates which I knew


ity
C

That here I do the image view


rs
w

In other selves, what can it mean?


ie

ve

But that below the purling stream

y
ev

Some unknown joys there be

op
ni

Laid up in store for me;


R

C
To which I shall, when that thin skin
ge

w
Is broken, be admitted in.
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

second selves – alter egos


U

borders on – (verb) stands at the boundary of


ge

’bout – about, around


ie
id

inferior – lower
ev
br

purling – twisting, curling


am

skin – surface
-R
-C

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Ants (From Dryades)

y
ev

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ni
William Diaper
R

C
ge

w
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id

ev
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Ants prudent bite the ends of hoarded wheat,


am

-R
Lest growing seeds their future hopes defeat;
And when they conscious scent the gathering rains,
-C

Draw down their windy eggs and pilfered grains;

s
es
With summer’s toil and ready viands fill
y

The deepest caverns of their puny hill;


Pr
op

There lie secure, and hug the treasured goods,


ity
C

And safe in laboured cells they mock the coming floods.


rs
w
ie

A thousand kinds unknown in forests breed,


ve

y
ev

And bite the leaves, and notch the growing weed;

op
ni

Have each their several laws, and settled states,


R

C
And constant sympathies, and constant hates.
ge

Their changing forms no artful verse describes,


w
Or how fierce war destroys the wandering tribes.
ie
id

How prudent Nature feeds her various young,


ev
br

Has been, if not untold, at least unsung.


am

-R

To th’insect race the Muse her pain denies,


While prouder men the little ant despise.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

windy – puffed up, growing


R

viands – supplies of food


ge

kinds – sorts of life, species


ie
id

notch – keep score of


ev
br

the Muse – poetry


pain – careful labour
am

-R
-C

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52 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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The Ant or Emmet

y
ev

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ni
Isaac Watts
R

C
ge

w
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id

ev
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These emmets, how little they are in our eyes!


We tread them to dust, and a troop of them dies
am

-R
Without our regard or concern:
-C

Yet, as wise as we are, if we went to their school,

s
es
There’s many a sluggard, and many a fool,
y

Some lessons of wisdom might learn.


Pr
op

ity
C

They don’t wear their time out in sleeping or play,


But gather up corn in a sunshiny day,
rs
w

And for winter they lay up their stores:


ie

ve

y
They manage their work in such regular forms,
ev

op
ni

One would think they foresaw all the frosts and the storms,
R

C
And so brought their food within doors.
ge

w
But I have less sense than a poor creeping ant
ie
id

If I take not due care for the things I shall want,


ev
br

Nor provide against dangers in time:


am

-R

When death or old age shall stare in my face,


What a wretch shall I be in the end of my days,
-C

If I rifle away all their prime?


es
y

Pr
op

Now, now, while my strength and my youth are in bloom,


Let me think what will serve me when sickness shall come,
ity
C

And pray that my sins be forgiven:


rs
w

Let me read in good books, and believe and obey,


ie

ve

That when death turns me out of this cottage of clay,


y
ev

op
ni

I may dwell in a palace in heaven.


R

C
ge

w
ie
id

emmet – ant
ev
br

rifle away – ransack, squander


cottage of clay – i.e. the human body
am

-R
-C

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The Grasshopper

y
ev

op
ni
Abraham Cowley
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Happy insect, what can be


In happiness compared to thee?
am

-R
Fed with nourishment divine,
-C

The dewy morning’s gentle wine!

s
es
Nature waits upon thee still,
y

And thy verdant cup does fill;


Pr
op

’Tis filled wherever thou dost tread,


ity
C

Nature self’s thy Ganymede.


Thou dost drink and dance and sing,
rs
w

Happier than the happiest king!


ie

ve

y
All the fields which thou dost see,
ev

op
ni

All the plants, belong to thee;


R

All that summer hours produce,


C
ge

Fertile made with early juice.


w
Man for thee does sow and plough;
ie
id

Farmer he, and landlord thou!


ev
br

Thou dost innocently joy,


am

-R

Nor does thy luxury destroy;


The shepherd gladly heareth thee,
-C

More harmonious than he.


es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

still – always, ever


ge

verdant – green
ie
id

Ganymede – the cup-bearer to Jove, the supreme god of Greek myth


ev
br

farmer he, and landlord thou! – man merely labours on the land you own!
am

joy – revel
-R
-C

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Thee country hinds with gladness hear,
y Prophet of the ripened year!

Pr
op
Thee Phoebus loves, and does inspire;

ity
Phoebus is himself thy sire.
C

To thee of all things upon earth,

rs
w

Life is no longer than thy mirth.


ie

ve
Happy insect, happy thou,

y
ev

op
ni
Dost neither age nor winter know.
R

U
But when thou’st drunk and danced and sung

C
ge
Thy fill the flowery leaves among

w
(Voluptuous and wise withal,

ie
id

Epicurean animal!),

ev
br

Sated with thy summer feast,


am

-R
Thou retirest to endless rest.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

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C

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ie

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y
ev

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R

C
ge

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ie
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am

-R
-C

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es
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Pr
op

ity
C

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w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

hinds – female deer


R

Phoebus – the Greek sun-god


ge

sire – father
ie
id

voluptuous – addicted to sensual pleasures


ev
br

withal – moreover
epicurean – devoted to pleasure
am

-R
-C

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To The Virgins, To Make Much of Time

y
ev

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ni
Robert Herrick
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,


Old time is still a-flying;
am

-R
And this same flower that smiles today
-C

Tomorrow will be dying.

s
es
y

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,


Pr
op

The higher he’s a-getting,


ity
C

The sooner will his race be run,


And nearer he’s to setting.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
That age is best which is the first,
ev

op
ni

When youth and blood are warmer;


R

But being spent, the worse and worst


C
ge

Times still succeed the former.


w
ie
id

Then be not coy, but use your time;


ev
br

And while ye may, go marry:


am

-R

For, having lost but once your prime,


You may for ever tarry.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

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ie

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ev

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R

C
ge

w
ie
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tarry – linger, remain


am

-R
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The Call

y
ev

op
ni
John Hall
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Romira, stay,
And run not thus like a young roe away;
am

-R
No enemy
-C

Pursues thee, foolish girl, ’tis only I:

s
es
I’ll keep off harms,
y

If thou’ll be pleased to garrison mine arms.


Pr
op

What, dost thou fear


ity
C

I’ll turn a traitor? May these roses here


To paleness shred,
rs
w

And lilies stand disguisèd in new red,


ie

ve

y
If that I lay
ev

op
ni

A snare wherein thou wouldst not gladly stay.


R

See, see, the sun


C
ge

Does slowly to his azure lodging run;


w
Come, sit but here,
ie
id

And presently he’ll quit our hemisphere:


ev
br

So, still among


am

-R

Lovers, time is too short or else too long;


Here will we spin
-C

Legends for them that have love-martyrs been;


es

Here on this plain


y

Pr
op

We’ll talk Narcissus to a flower again.


ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

roe – female deer


op
ni

garrison – inhabit (as soldiers of their barracks)


R

shred – dissolve into pieces


ge

azure – sky-blue
w
ie

still – always, ever


id

ev

Narcissus – in Greek myth, a beautiful youth who, thinking it a nymph, fell in love with
br

his own reflection in a pool, jumped in, was drowned, and was turned into a flower
am

-R
-C

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-C

s
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Come here, and and choose
y On which of these proud plats thou would repose;

Pr
op
Here mayst thou shame

ity
The rusty violets, with the crimson flame
C

Of either cheek,

rs
w

And primroses, white as thy fingers, seek;


ie

ve
Nay, thou mayst prove

y
ev

op
ni
That man’s most noble passion is to love.
R

C
ge

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ie
id

ev
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am

-R
-C

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Pr
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C

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R

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Pr
op

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C

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y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
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proud plats – splendid patches of grass


am

-R
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Love

y
ev

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ni
Henry Baker
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Love’s an headstrong wild desire


To possess what we admire:
am

-R
Hurrying on without reflecting,
-C

All that’s just or wise neglecting.

s
es
Pain, or pleasure, it is neither,
y

But excess of both together;


Pr
op

Now, addressing, cringing, whining,


ity
C

Vowing, fretting, weeping, pining,


Murmuring, languishing, and sighing,
rs
w

Mad, despairing, raving, dying:


ie

ve

y
Now caressing, laughing, toying,
ev

op
ni

Fondling, kissing, and enjoying.


R

Always in extremes abiding,


C
ge

Without measure, fond or chiding:


w
Either furious with possessing,
ie
id

Or despairing of the blessing:


ev
br

Now transported, now tormented,


am

-R

Still uneasy, ne’er contented.


None can tell its rise, or progress,
-C

Or its ingress, or its egress,


es

Whether by a look produced,


y

Pr
op

Or by sympathy infused.
ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

measure – moderation
ge

fond – foolishly doting


ie
id

transported – sent into raptures


ev
br

still – always, ever


am

ingress . . . egress – entrance . . . exit


-R
-C

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 59

-C

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Fancy does so well maintain it,
y Weaker reason can’t restrain it,

Pr
op
But is forced to fly before it,

ity
Or else worship and adore it.
C

rs
w
ie

ve

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ev

op
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R

C
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ie
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am

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Pr
op

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C

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y
ev

op
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R

C
ge

w
ie
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fancy – imagination
ev
br

maintain – sustain the notion of


fly before – flee at the sight of
am

-R
-C

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Song: Love Armed

y
ev

op
ni
Aphra Behn
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Love in fantastic triumph sat,


Whilst bleeding hearts around him flowed,
am

-R
For whom fresh pains he did create,
-C

And strange tyrannic power he showed:

s
es
From thy bright eyes he took his fire,
y

Which round about in sport he hurled;


Pr
op

But ’twas from mine he took desire,


ity
C

Enough to undo the amorous world.


rs
w

From me he took his sighs and tears,


ie

ve

y
From thee his pride and cruelty;
ev

op
ni

From me his languishments and fears,


R

And every killing dart from thee.


C
ge

Thus thou and I the god have armed,


w
And set him up a deity;
ie
id

But my poor heart alone is harmed,


ev
br

Whilst thine the victor is, and free.


am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

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w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

fantastic – (1) extravagant; (2) imagined


ev
br

undo – destroy, utterly ruin


languishments – fits of misery
am

-R
-C

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-C

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Song: I Feed A Flame Within

y
ev

op
ni
John Dryden
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

I feed a flame within which so torments me


That it both pains my heart and yet contents me:
am

-R
’Tis such a pleasing smart, and I so love it,
-C

That I had rather die than once remove it.

s
es
y

Yet he for whom I grieve shall never know it,


Pr
op

My tongue does not betray, nor my eyes show it:


ity

Not a sigh nor a tear my pain discloses,


C

But they fall silently like dew on roses.


rs
w
ie

ve

Thus to prevent my love from being cruel,

y
ev

op
ni

My heart’s the sacrifice as ’tis the fuel:


R

And while I suffer this to give him quiet,


C
ge

My faith rewards my love, though he deny it.


w
ie
id

On his eyes will I gaze, and there delight me;


ev
br

While I conceal my love, no frown can fright me:


am

-R

To be more happy I dare not aspire;


Nor can I fall more low, mounting no higher.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

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R

C
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smart – pain
am

-R
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The Mower To The Glow-Worms

y
ev

op
ni
Andrew Marvell
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Ye living lamps, by whose dear light


The nightingale does sit so late
am

-R
And, studying all the summer night,
-C

Her matchless songs does meditate;

s
es
y

Ye country comets, that portend


Pr
op

No war, nor prince’s funeral,


ity

Shining unto no higher end


C

Than to presage the grasses’ fall;


rs
w
ie

ve

Ye glow-worms, whose officious flame

y
ev

op
ni

To wandering mowers shows the way,


R

That in the night have lost their aim,


C
ge

And after foolish fires do stray:


w
ie
id

Your courteous lights in vain you waste,


ev
br

Since Juliana here is come,


am

-R

For she my mind hath so displaced


That I shall never find my home.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

matchless – incomparable
R

meditate – rehearse
ge

end – purpose
ie
id

officious – dutiful
ev
br

foolish fires – the ignis fatuus or ‘will o’ the wisp’ (the flaming phosphorescence that
am

appears over marshy ground); hence a delusive object


-R
-C

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Her Window

y
ev

op
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Richard Leigh
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Here first the day does break,


And for access does seek,
am

-R
Repairing for supplies
-C

To her new-opened eyes;

s
es
Then, with a gentle light
y

Gilding the shades of night,


Pr
op

Their curtains drawn, does come


ity
C

To draw those of her room:


Both open, a small ray
rs
w

Does spread abroad the day,


ie

ve

y
Which peeps into each nest,
ev

op
ni

Where neighbouring birds do rest,


R

C
Who, spread upon their young,
ge

Begin their morning-song,


w
And from their little home
ie
id

Nearer her window come;


ev
br

While from low boughs they hop,


am

-R

And perch upon the top;


And so from bough to bough,
-C

Still singing as they go,


es

In praise of light and her


y

Pr
op

Whom they to light prefer,


By whose protection blest,
ity
C

So quietly they nest


rs
w

Secure, as in the wood,


ie

ve

In such a neighbourhood;
y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

repairing – returning with reinforcements


ie
id

curtains – (1) eyelids; (2) drapes


ev
br

spread abroad – widely distribute


am

spread upon – sitting over


-R
-C

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-C

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While undisturbed they sit,
y Fearing no hawk nor net,

Pr
op
And here the first news sing

ity
Of the approaching spring –
C

The spring which ever here

rs
w

Does first of all appear,


ie

ve
Its fair course still begun

y
ev

op
ni
By her, and by the sun.
R

C
ge

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ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
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Pr
op

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still – once more


am

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To One That Asked me Why I Loved J.G.

y
ev

op
ni
‘Ephelia’
R

C
ge

w
ie
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ev
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Why do I love? Go, ask the glorious sun


Why every day it round the world doth run;
am

-R
Ask Thames and Tiber why they ebb and flow;
-C

Ask damask roses why in June they blow;

s
es
Ask ice and hail the reason why they’re cold;
y

Decaying beauties, why they will grow old:


Pr
op

They’ll tell thee fate, that everything doth move,


ity
C

Enforces them to this, and me to love.


There is no reason for our love or hate:
rs
w

’Tis irresistible as death or fate.


ie

ve

y
’Tis not his face: I’ve sense enough to see
ev

op
ni

That is not good, though doted on by me.


R

Nor is’t his tongue that has this conquest won,


C
ge

For that at least is equalled by my own.


w
His carriage can to none obliging be –
ie
id

’Tis rude, affected, full of vanity,


ev
br

Strangely ill-natured, peevish and unkind,


am

-R

Unconstant, false, to jealousy inclined.


His temper could not have so great a power:
-C

’Tis mutable, and changes every hour.


es

Those vigorous years that women so adore


y

Pr
op

Are past in him: he’s twice my age and more.


ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

Thames and Tiber – the rivers of London and Rome


op
ni
R

damask – light-pink
U

blow – come into bloom


ge

move – motivate
ie
id

carriage – bearing, demeanour


ev
br

rude – brash, uncivilised


am

unkind – unnatural
-R
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And yet I love this false, this worthless, man
y With all the passion that a woman can

Pr
op
Dote on his imperfections: though I spy

ity
Nothing to love, I love, and know not why.
C

Sure ’tis decreed in the dark book of fate

rs
w

That I should love, and he should be ingrate.


ie

ve

y
ev

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ni
R

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ge

w
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id

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am

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am

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y
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R

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w
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am

ingrate – ungrateful
-R
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As Loving Hind That, Hartless, Wants Her Deer

y
ev

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Anne Bradstreet
R

C
ge

w
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As loving hind that, hartless, wants her deer


Scuds through the woods and fern with hearkening
am

-R
ear,
-C

Perplexed, in every bush and nook doth pry,

s
es
Her dearest deer might answer ear or eye;
y

So doth my anxious soul, which now doth miss


Pr
op

A dearer dear, far dearer heart, than this,


ity
C

Still wait with doubts, and hopes, and failing eye,


His voice to hear or person to descry.
rs
w

Or as the pensive dove doth all alone


ie

ve

y
On withered bough most uncouthly bemoan
ev

op
ni

The absence of her love and loving mate,


R

Whose loss hath made her so unfortunate,


C
ge

Even thus do I, with many a deep sad groan,


w
Bewail my turtle true, who now is gone:
ie
id

His presence and his safe return still woos


ev
br

With thousand doleful sighs and mournful coos.


am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

hind – female deer


rs
w

hartless – i.e. without a hart, or male deer


ie

ve

wants – lacks
y
ev

scuds – glides
op
ni

hearkening – listening
R

descry – catch sight of


ge

uncouthly – artlessly
ie
id

turtle – turtle-dove
ev
br

woos – attempts to achieve


am

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Or as the loving mullet, that true fish,
y Her fellow lost, nor joy nor life do wish,

Pr
op
But launches on that shore, there for to die,

ity
Where she her captive husband doth espy;
C

Mine being gone, I lead a joyless life,

rs
w

I have a loving peer, yet seem no wife:


ie

ve
But worst of all, to him can’t steer my course,

y
ev

op
ni
I here, he there, alas, both kept by force.
R

U
Return, my dear, my joy, my only love,

C
ge
Unto thy hind, thy mullet, and thy dove,

w
Who neither joys in pasture, house, nor streams;

ie
id

The substance gone, O me, these are but dreams!

ev
br

Together at one tree, O let us browse,


am

-R
And like two turtles roost within one house,
And like the mullets in one river glide:
-C

s
Let’s still remain but one, till death divide.

es
Thy loving love and dearest dear,
y

Pr
At home, abroad, and everywhere.
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

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ni
R

C
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w
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Pr
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C

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y
ev

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ni
R

nor . . . nor – neither . . . nor


ge

launches on – rushes onto


ie
id

captive – i.e. caught


ev
br

peer – companion, mate


am

browse – graze, feed on leaves


-R
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A Married State

y
ev

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Katherine Philips
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

A married state affords but little ease;


The best of husbands are so hard to please:
am

-R
This in wives’ careful faces you may spell,
-C

Though they dissemble their misfortunes well.

s
es
A virgin state is crowned with much content,
y

It’s always happy as it’s innocent:


Pr
op

No blustering husbands to create your fears,


ity
C

No pangs of childbirth to extort your tears,


No children’s cries for to offend your ears,
rs
w

Few worldly crosses to distract your prayers.


ie

ve

y
Thus are you freed from all the cares that do
ev

op
ni

Attend on matrimony, and a husband too.


R

Therefore, Madam, be advised by me:


C
ge

Turn, turn apostate to love’s levity.


w
Suppress wild nature if she dare rebel,
ie
id

There’s no such thing as leading apes in hell.


ev
br
am

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y

Pr
op

ity
C

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w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

careful – full of care


R

spell – observe
ge

extort – extract forcibly


ie
id

crosses – troubles
ev
br

apostate – religious traitor


leading apes in hell – the proverbial fate of spinsters
am

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Ode on Solitude

y
ev

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Alexander Pope
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Happy the man whose wish and care


A few paternal acres bound,
am

-R
Content to breathe his native air,
-C

In his own ground.

s
es
y

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,


Pr
op

Whose flocks supply him with attire,


ity

Whose trees in summer yield him shade,


C

In winter fire.
rs
w
ie

ve

Blessed! who can unconcernedly find

y
ev

op
ni

Hours, days, and years slide soft away,


R

In health of body, peace of mind,


C
ge

Quiet by day.
w
ie
id

Sound sleep by night; study and ease


ev
br

Together mixed; sweet recreation


am

-R

And innocence, which most does please,


With meditation.
-C

s
es

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;


y

Pr

Thus unlamented let me die;


op

Steal from the world, and not a stone


ity
C

Tell where I lie.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

paternal acres – inherited land


am

-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 71

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From A Dialogue Between a Squeamish Cotting

y
ev

op
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Mechanic and His Sluttish Wife, In a Kitchen
R

C
Edward Ward
ge

w
ie
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ev
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am

Husband

-R
Is the fish ready? You’re a tedious while;
Take care the butter does not turn to oil.
-C

Lay on more coals, and hang the pot down lower,

s
es
Or ’twill not boil with such a fire this hour.
y

Is that, my dear, the saucepan you design


Pr
op

To stew the shrimps and melt the butter in?


ity
C

Nouns! withinside as nasty it appears


rs

As if’t had ne’er been scoured this fifty years.


w
ie

Rare hussifs! How confounded black it looks!


ve

y
ev

God sends us meat; the devil sends us cooks.

op
ni

Wife Why, how now, cot! Must I be taught by you?


R

C
Sure, I without you know what I’ve to do.
ge

Prithee go mind your shop, attend your trade,


w
And leave the kitchen to your wife and maid.
ie
id

O’erlook your ’prentices, you cot, and see


ev
br

They do their work, leave cookery to me.


am

-R

Is’t fit a man, you contradicting sot,


-C

s
es

cotting mechanic – interfering tradesman


y

Pr
op

sluttish – dirty, untidy


this hour – for the next hour
ity
C

design – intend
rs
w

Nouns! – an exclamation (‘God’s wounds!’)


ie

ve

rare – unusual, wonderful (sarcastic)


y
ev

hussifs – housewives
op
ni
R

cot – meddler, interferer


U

prithee – please
ge

o’erlook – supervise
ie
id

’prentices – apprentices
ev
br

fit – appropriate
am

sot – dolt, fool


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Should mind the kettle or the porridge-pot,
y And run his nose in every dirty hole,

Pr
op
To see what platter’s clean, what dish is foul?

ity
Be gone, you prating ninny, whilst you’re well,
C

Or, faith, I’ll pin the dish-clout to your tail.

rs
w

Husband I’ll not be poisoned by a sluttish quean. –


ie

ve
Hussy, I say, go scour the saucepan clean.

y
ev

op
ni
What though your mistress is a careless beast,
R

U
I love to have my victuals cleanly dressed! –

C
ge I will direct and govern, since I find

w
You’re both to so much nastiness inclined.

ie
id

I’d have you know I neither fear or matter

ev
br

Your threatened dish-clouts or your scalding water.


am

-R
Wife Stand by, you prating fool, you damned provoker,
Or, by my soul, I’ll burn you with the poker.
-C

s
Must I be thus abused, as if your maid,

es
And called a slut before a saucy jade?
y

Pr
Gad, speak another word and, by my troth,
op

I’ll spoil the fish and scald you with the broth.
ity
C

The kitchen fire, alas! don’t burn to please ye;


rs
w

The saucepan is, forsooth, too foul and greasy!


ie

ve

Husband Hussy, what I direct, you ought to do;

y
ev

I’m lord and master of this house and you.

op
ni

Do you not know that wise and noble prince,


R

C
King ’Hasuerus, made a law long since
ge

w
That every husband should the ruler be
ie
id

Of his own wife, as well as family?


ev
br

How dare you then control my lawful sway,


am

When Scripture tells you woman should obey?


-R

Therefore, I say, I’ll have my fish well dressed,


-C

After such manner as shall please me best,


s
es

Or, hussy, by this ladle, if I ha’n’t,


y

I’ll make you show good reason why I shan’t.


Pr
op

ity
C

prating ninny – chattering fool


rs
w

dish-clout – dish-cloth
ie

ve

quean . . . hussy . . . jade . . . trull – strumpet, low woman


y
ev

matter – pay attention to, heed


op
ni
R

Gad – by God
U

by my troth – by my faith
ge

direct – instruct
ie
id

King ’Hasuerus – Ahasuerus, the Biblical name for Xerxes I


ev
br

control – object to
am

ha’n’t – have not


-R
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Wife

es
Pray clean the saucepan, you forgetful trull,
y I must confess it looks a little dull. –

Pr
op
You shall not say I love this jarring life,

ity
You shall have no complaints against your wife.
C

But prithee, husband, leave us and be easy,

rs
w

Ne’er doubt but I will cook your fish to please ye.


ie

ve
Husband Since you repent your failings, I’ll be gone,

y
ev

op
ni
But prithee let the fish be nicely done.
R

U
I buy the best and, whether roast or boiled,

C
geYou know I hate to have my victuals spoiled.

w
Wife My dear, I’ll take such care that you shall find

ie
id

It shall be rightly ordered to your mind.

ev
br

I’m glad he’s gone. Pox take him for a cot!


am

-R
What wife would humour such a snarling sot?
Here, Katherine, take my keys, slip gently by
-C

s
The Fox, and fetch a dram for thee and I.

es
Lay down the saucepan. Pah! It’s clean enough
y

Pr
For such an old, ill-natured, stingy cuff.
op

Prithee ne’er value what thy master says;


ity
C

You should not mind his cross-grained, foolish ways;


rs
w

But when I bid you, hussy, you must run.


ie

ve

Now his back’s turned, the kitchen is our own.

y
ev

Bless me! how easily can a woman blind

op
ni

And cheat a husband, if he proves unkind.


R

C
He thinks, poor cuckold, that he bears the rule,
ge

w
When heaven knows I do but gull the fool.
ie
id

ev
br
am

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-C

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Pr
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C

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y
ev

op
ni
R

victuals – food
U

humour – tolerate
ge

The Fox – i.e. the name of a tavern


ie
id

cuff – (slang) old miser


ev
br

cross-grained – abrasive
am

gull – deceive
-R
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On My Dreaming of my Wife

y
ev

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Jonathan Richardson
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

As waked from sleep, methought I heard the voice


Of one that mourned; I listened to the noise.
am

-R
I looked, and quickly found it was my dear;
-C

Dead as she was, I little thought her there.

s
es
I questioned her with tenderness, while she
y

Sighed only, but would else still silent be.


Pr
op

I waked indeed; the lovely mourner’s gone,


ity
C

She sighs no more, ’tis I that sigh alone.


rs
w

Musing on her, I slept again, but where


ie

ve

y
I went I know not, but I found her there.
ev

op
ni

Her lovely eyes she kindly fixed on me;


R

‘Let Miser not be nangry then,’ said she,


C
ge

A language love had taught, and love alone


w
Could teach; we prattled as we oft had done,
ie
id

But she, I know not how, was quickly gone.


ev
br
am

-R

With her imaginary presence blessed,


My slumbers are emphatically rest;
-C

I of my waking thoughts can little boast:


es

They always sadly tell me she is lost.


y

Pr
op

Much of our happiness we always owe


To error; better to believe than know!
ity
C

Return, delusion sweet, and oft return!


rs
w

I joy, mistaken; undeceived, I mourn;


ie

ve

But all my sighs and griefs are fully paid,


y
ev

When I but see the shadow of her shade.


op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

little thought her – hardly thought of (seeing) her


ev
br

Miser . . . nangry – (baby talk) Mister . . . angry


am

-R
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William and Margaret

y
ev

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David Mallet
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

’Twas at the silent, solemn hour,


When night and morning meet;
am

-R
In glided Margaret’s grimly ghost,
-C

And stood at William’s feet.

s
es
y

Her face was like an April morn,


Pr
op

Clad in a wintry cloud:


ity
C

And clay-cold was her lily hand


That held her sable shroud.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
So shall the fairest face appear,
ev

op
ni

When youth and years are flown:


R

Such is the robe that kings must wear,


C
ge

When death has reft their crown.


w
ie
id

Her bloom was like the springing flower,


ev
br

That sips the silver dew;


am

-R

The rose was budded in her cheek,


Just opening to the view.
-C

s
es

But love had, like the canker-worm,


y

Pr
op

Consumed her early prime:


The rose grew pale, and left her cheek;
ity
C

She died before her time.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

grimly – grim-looking
R

lily – white (as a lily)


ge

sable – black
ie
id

reft – snatched
ev
br

bloom – complexion
canker-worm – maggot
am

-R
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‘Awake!’ she cried, ‘thy true love calls,
y Come from her midnight grave;

Pr
op
Now let thy pity hear the maid

ity
Thy love refused to save.
C

rs
w

‘This is the dumb and dreary hour,


ie

ve
When injured ghosts complain;

y
ev

op
ni
When yawning graves give up their dead
R

U
To haunt the faithless swain.

C
ge

w
‘Bethink thee, William, of thy fault,

ie
id

Thy pledge, and broken oath:

ev
br

And give me back my maiden vow,


am

-R
And give me back my troth.
-C

s
‘Why did you promise love to me,

es
And not that promise keep?
y

Pr
Why did you swear my eyes were bright,
op

Yet leave those eyes to weep?


ity
C

rs
w

‘How could you say my face was fair,


ie

ve

And yet that face forsake?

y
ev

How could you win my virgin heart,

op
ni

Yet leave that heart to break?


R

C
ge

w
‘Why did you say my lip was sweet,
ie
id

And made the scarlet pale?


ev
br

And why did I, young witless maid,


am

Believe the flattering tale?


-R
-C

‘That face, alas! no more is fair;


s
es

Those lips no longer red:


y

Dark are my eyes, now closed in death,


Pr
op

And every charm is fled.


ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

faithless swain – inconstant lover


w
ie

bethink thee – consider


id

ev

troth – betrothal
br

charm – aspect of beauty


am

-R
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‘The hungry worm my sister is;
y This winding-sheet I wear:

Pr
op
And cold and weary lasts our night,

ity
Till that last morn appear.
C

rs
w

‘But hark! – the cock has warned me hence;


ie

ve
A long and late adieu!

y
ev

op
ni
Come, see, false man, how low she lies,
R

U
Who died for love of you.’

C
ge

w
The lark sung loud; the morning smiled,

ie
id

And raised her glistering head:

ev
br

Pale William quaked in every limb,


am

-R
And raving left his bed.
-C

s
He hied him to the fatal place

es
Where Margaret’s body lay:
y

Pr
And stretched him on the grass-green turf,
op

That wrapped her breathless clay.


ity
C

rs
w

And thrice he called on Margaret’s name,


ie

ve

And thrice he wept full sore:

y
ev

Then laid his cheek to her cold grave,

op
ni

And word spake never more.


R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
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y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

winding-sheet – shroud
ie
id

glistering – shining
ev
br

hied him – hurried


am

clay – body
-R
-C

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The Widow

y
ev

op
ni
Robert Southey
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Cold was the night wind, drifting fast the snows fell,
Wide were the downs and shelterless and naked,
am

-R
When a poor wanderer struggled on her journey
-C

Weary and way-sore.

s
es
y

Drear were the downs, more dreary her reflections;


Pr
op

Cold was the night wind, colder was her bosom!


ity
C

She had no home, the world was all before her,


She had no shelter.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
Fast o’er the bleak heath rattling drove a chariot,
ev

op
ni

‘Pity me!’ feebly cried the poor night-wanderer.


R

‘Pity me, strangers! lest with cold and hunger


C
ge

Here I should perish.


w
ie
id

‘Once I had friends, – but they have all forsook me!


ev
br

Once I had parents, – they are now in heaven!


am

-R

I had a home once – I had once a husband –


Pity me, strangers!
-C

s
es

‘I had a home once – I had once a husband –


y

Pr
op

I am a widow poor and broken-hearted!’


Loud blew the wind, unheard was her complaining,
ity
C

On drove the chariot.


rs
w
ie

ve

On the cold snows she laid her down to rest her;


y
ev

She heard a horseman, ‘Pity me!’ she groaned out;


op
ni
R

Loud blew the wind, unheard was her complaining,


U

On went the horseman.


ge

w
ie
id

ev
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downs – open land


drear – bleak
am

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Worn out with anguish, toil and cold and hunger,
y Down sunk the wanderer, sleep had seized her senses;

Pr
op
There did the traveller find her in the morning,

ity
God had released her.
C

rs
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y
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R

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am

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80 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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57

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The Rights of Woman

y
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Anna Laetitia Barbauld
R

C
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Yes, injured Woman! rise, assert thy right!


Woman! too long degraded, scorned, oppressed;
am

-R
O born to rule in partial Law’s despite,
-C

Resume thy native empire o’er the breast!

s
es
y

Go forth arrayed in panoply divine,


Pr
op

That angel pureness which admits no stain;


ity

Go, bid proud Man his boasted rule resign


C

And kiss the golden sceptre of thy reign.


rs
w
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ve

Go, gird thyself with grace, collect thy store

y
ev

op
ni

Of bright artillery glancing from afar;


R

Soft melting tones thy thundering cannon’s roar,


C
ge

Blushes and fears thy magazine of war.


w
ie
id

Thy rights are empire: urge no meaner claim –


ev
br

Felt, not defined, and if debated, lost;


am

-R

Like sacred mysteries which, withheld from fame,


Shunning discussion, are revered the most.
-C

s
es

Try all that wit and art suggest to bend


y

Pr

Of thy imperial foe the stubborn knee;


op

Make treacherous Man thy subject, not thy friend;


ity
C

Thou mayst command, but never canst be free.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

in partial Law’s despite – despite the sway of biased laws


ie
id

panoply – magnificent armour


ev
br

admits – allows
magazine – arsenal
am

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Awe the licentious and restrain the rude;
y Soften the sullen, clear the cloudy brow:

Pr
op
Be more than princes’ gifts thy favours sued –

ity
She hazards all, who will the least allow.
C

rs
w

But hope not, courted idol of mankind,


ie

ve
On this proud eminence secure to stay;

y
ev

op
ni
Subduing and subdued, thou soon shalt find
R

U
Thy coldness soften, and thy pride give way.

C
ge

w
Then, then, abandon each ambitious thought;

ie
id

Conquest or rule thy heart shall feebly move,

ev
br

In Nature’s school, by her soft maxims taught


am

-R
That separate rights are lost in mutual love.
-C

s
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y

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Pr
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licentious – lascivious, lewd


R

rude – harsh, uncivil


ge

sued – sought for


ie
id

she hazards all, who will the least allow – ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’
ev
br

eminence – elevated ground (hence lofty status)


maxims – moral sayings
am

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Song: To Lucasta, Going to The Wars

y
ev

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Richard Lovelace
R

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Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind,


am

That from the nunnery

-R
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind,
-C

To war and arms I fly.

s
es
y

True, a new mistress now I chase,


Pr
op

The first foe in the field;


ity
C

And with a stronger faith embrace


A sword, a horse, a shield.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
Yet this inconstancy is such
ev

op
ni

As you too shall adore;


R

C
I could not love thee, dear, so much,
ge

Loved I not Honour more.


w
ie
id

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am

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Pr
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y
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R

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unkind – (1) cruel; (2) unnatural


am

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Ode: I Hate That Drum’s Discordant Sound

y
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John Scott
R

C
ge

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I hate that drum’s discordant sound,


Parading round, and round, and round:
am

-R
To thoughtless youth it pleasure yields,
-C

And lures from cities and from fields,

s
es
To sell their liberty for charms
y

Of tawdry lace, and glittering arms;


Pr
op

And, when Ambition’s voice commands,


ity

To march and fight, and fall, in foreign lands.


C

rs
w

I hate that drum’s discordant sound,


ie

ve

y
Parading round, and round, and round:
ev

op
ni

To me it talks of ravaged plains,


R

And burning towns, and ruined swains,


C
ge

And mangled limbs, and dying groans,


w
And widows’ tears, and orphans’ moans;
ie
id

And all that Misery’s hand bestows


ev
br

To fill the catalogue of human woes.


am

-R
-C

s
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y

Pr
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C

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y
ev

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R

C
ge

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that drum – i.e. that used to ‘drum up’ recruits to the army
ev
br

yields – provides, furnishes


swains – youths
am

-R
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84 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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From Blenheim

y
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John Philips
R

C
ge

w
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Now from each van


The brazen instruments of death discharge
am

-R
Horrible flames, and turbid streaming clouds
-C

Of smoke sulphureous; intermixed with these

s
es
Large globous irons fly, of dreadful hiss,
y

Singeing the air, and from long distance bring


Pr
op

Surprising slaughter; on each side they fly


ity

By chains connexed, and with destructive sweep


C

Behead whole troops at once; the hairy scalps


rs
w

Are whirled aloof, while numerous trunks bestrow


ie

ve

Th’ensanguined field; with latent mischief stored,

y
ev

op
ni

Showers of grenadoes rain, by sudden burst


R

Disploding murderous bowels: fragments of steel,


C
ge

And stones, and glass, and nitrous grain adust.


w
ie
id

ev
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am

-R
-C

Blenheim – the Battle of Blenheim (1704)


es

van – forefront of an army


y

Pr

brazen – brass
op

turbid – opaque
ity
C

globous irons – cannonballs


rs
w

connexed – joined together (‘irons . . . by chains connexed’ = chainshot)


ie

ve

bestrow – litter
y
ev

ensanguined – bloodied
op
ni

latent – held within


R

grenadoes – grenades
ge

disploding – explosively scattering


ie
id

bowels – contents
ev
br

nitrous grain – gunpowder


adust – burnt, scorched
am

-R
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A thousand ways at once the shivered orbs
y Fly diverse, working torment and foul rout

Pr
op
With deadly bruise, and gashes furrowed deep.

ity
Of pain impatient, the high-prancing steeds
C

Disdain the curb, and flinging to and fro,

rs
w

Spurn their dismounted riders; they expire


ie

ve
Indignant, by unhostile wounds destroyed.

y
ev

op
ni
Thus through each army death in various shapes
R

U
Prevailed; here mangled limbs, here brains and gore

C
ge
Lie clotted; lifeless some: with anguish these

w
Gnashing, and loud laments invoking aid,

ie
id

Unpitied and unheard; the louder din

ev
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Of guns, and trumpets’ clang, and solemn sound


am

-R
Of drums, o’ercame their groans.
-C

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R

shivered – shattered, fragmented


ge

diverse – variously
ie
id

rout – disorder
ev
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curb – bridle
am

unhostile – unintentionally aggressive (compare ‘friendly fire’)


-R
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86 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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The Hunting of The Hare

y
ev

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Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle
R

C
ge

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ev
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Betwixt two ridges of ploughed land lay Wat,


Pressing his body close to earth lay squat.
am

-R
His nose upon his two forefeet close lies,
-C

Glaring obliquely with his great grey eyes.

s
es
His head he always sets against the wind:
y

If turn his tail, his hairs blow up behind,


Pr
op

Which he too cold will grow; but he is wise,


ity

And keeps his coat still down, so warm he lies.


C

Thus resting all the day, till sun doth set,


rs
w

Then riseth up, his relief for to get,


ie

ve

Walking about until the sun doth rise;

y
ev

op
ni

Then back returns, down in his form he lies.


R

At last poor Wat was found, as he there lay,


C
ge

By huntsmen with their dogs which came that way.


w
Seeing, gets up, and fast begins to run,
ie
id

Hoping some ways the cruel dogs to shun.


ev
br

But they by nature have so quick a scent


am

-R

That by their nose they trace what way he went;


And with their deep, wide mouths set forth a cry
-C

Which answered was by echoes in the sky.


es

Then Wat was struck with terror and with fear,


y

Pr

Thinks every shadow still the dogs they were;


op

And running out some distance from the noise


ity
C

To hide himself, his thoughts he new employs.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

betwixt – between
R

Wat – a traditional name for the hare (as ‘Tom’ is for a cat)
C

grow – cause to become


ge

still – ever
ie
id

relief – food, sustenance


ev
br

form – a hare’s nest or lair


am

-R

scent – sense of smell


-C

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 87

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Under a clod of earth in sandpit wide,
y Poor Wat sat close, hoping himself to hide.

Pr
op
There long he had not sat but straight his ears

ity
The winding horns and crying dogs he hears:
C

Starting with fear up leaps, then doth he run,

rs
w

And with such speed, the ground scarce treads upon.


ie

ve
Into a great thick wood he straightway gets,

y
ev

op
ni
Where underneath a broken bough he sits;
R

U
At every leaf that with the wind did shake

C
ge
Did bring such terror, made his heart to ache.

w
That place he left; to champian plains he went,

ie
id

Winding about, for to deceive their scent,

ev
br

And while they snuffling were, to find his track,


am

-R
Poor Wat, being weary, his swift pace did slack.
On his two hinder legs for ease did sit:
-C

s
His forefeet rubbed his face from dust and sweat.

es
Licking his feet, he wiped his ears so clean
y

Pr
That none could tell that Wat had hunted been.
op

But casting round about his fair great eyes,


ity
C

The hounds in full career he near him spies;


rs
w

To Wat it was so terrible a sight,


ie

ve

Fear gave him wings, and made his body light.

y
ev

Though weary as before, by running long,

op
ni

Yet now his breath he ever felt more strong.


R

C
Like those that dying are, think health returns,
ge

w
When ’tis but a faint blast which life out burns –
ie
id

For spirits seek to guard the heart about,


ev
br

Striving with death; but death doth quench them


am

out.
-R

Thus they so fast came on, with such loud cries,


-C

That he no hopes hath left, nor help espies.


s
es

With that the winds did pity poor Wat’s case,


y

And with their breath the scent blew from the place.
Pr
op

Then every nose is busily employed,


ity
C

And every nostril is set open wide;


And every head doth seek a several way
rs
w

To find what grass or track the scent on lay.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

close – secretly
U

straight – immediately, straight away


ge

winding – blowing
ie
id

doth – does
ev
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champian – unenclosed
am

espies – catches sight of


-R
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88 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Thus quick industry, that is not slack,
y Is like to witchery: brings lost things back.

Pr
op
For though the wind had tied the scent up close,

ity
A busy dog thrust in his snuffling nose,
C

And drew it out, with it did foremost run;

rs
w

Then horns blew loud, for the rest to follow on.


ie

ve
The great slow hounds, their throats did set a bass,

y
ev

op
ni
The fleet swift hounds as tenors next in place;
R

U
The little beagles they a treble sing,

C
ge
And through the air their voice a round did ring,

w
Which made a consort as they ran along:

ie
id

If they but words could speak, might sing a song:

ev
br

The horns kept time, the hunters shout for joy,


am

-R
And valiant seem, poor Wat for to destroy.
Spurring their horses to a full career,
-C

s
Swim rivers deep, leap ditches without fear;

es
Endanger life and limbs, so fast will ride,
y

Pr
Only to see how patiently Wat died.
op

For why, the dogs so near his heels did get


ity
C

That they their sharp teeth in his breech did set.


rs
w

Then tumbling down, did fall with weeping eyes,


ie

ve

Gives up the ghost, and thus poor Wat he dies.

y
ev

Men hooping loud such acclamations make

op
ni

As if the devil they did prisoner take,


R

C
When they do but a shiftless creature kill,
ge

w
To hunt, there needs no valiant soldier’s skill.
ie
id

But man doth think that exercise and toil,


ev
br

To keep their health, is best, which makes most spoil;


am

Thinking that food and nourishment so good,


-R

And appetite, that feeds on flesh and blood.


-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

witchery – witchcraft
bass . . . tenor . . . treble – low, medium, and high musical voices
ity
C

beagles – hunting dogs


rs
w

round – a song, shared by two or more voices


ie

ve

consort – group of musicians; concert


y
ev

career – gallop
op
ni
R

for why – the reason being


U

breech – rump
ge

hooping – crying, shouting, whooping


ie
id

acclamations – cries of praise


ev
br

shiftless – helpless
am

makes most spoil – creates the most damage


-R
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When they do lions, wolves, bears, tigers see
y To kill poor sheep, straight say they cruel be;

Pr
op
But, for themselves, all creatures think too few

ity
For luxury, wish God would make them new –
C

As if that God made creatures for man’s meat,

rs
w

And gave them life and sense for man to eat;


ie

ve
Or else for sport, or recreation’s sake,

y
ev

op
ni
Destroy those lives that God saw good to make;
R

U
Making their stomachs graves, which full they fill

C
ge
With murdered bodies that in sport they kill.

w
Yet man doth think himself so gentle mild,

ie
id

When of all creatures he’s most cruel wild;

ev
br

And is so proud, thinks only he shall live,


am

-R
That God a godlike nature did him give,
And that all creatures for his sake alone
-C

s
Was made for him to tyrannise upon.

es
y

Pr
op

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C

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as if that – as if it were the case that


-R
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From A Satyr Against Mankind

y
ev

op
ni
John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Be judge yourself, I’ll bring it to the test


Which is the basest creature, man or beast?
am

-R
Birds feed on birds, beasts on each other prey,
-C

But savage man alone does man betray.

s
es
Pressed by necessity, they kill for food;
y

Man undoes man to do himself no good.


Pr
op

With teeth and claws by nature armed, they hunt


ity
C

Nature’s allowance to supply their want,


But man with smiles, embraces, friendship, praise,
rs
w

Most humanly his fellow’s life betrays,


ie

ve

y
With voluntary pains works his distress,
ev

op
ni

Not through necessity but wantonness.


R

For hunger or for love they bite and tear,


C
ge

Whilst wretched man is still in arms for fear.


w
For fear he arms and is of arms afraid,
ie
id

From fear to fear successively betrayed,


ev
br

Base fear, the source whence his best actions came,


am

-R

His boasted honour and his dear-bought fame,


The lust of power to which he’s such a slave
-C

And for the which alone he dares be brave,


es

To which his various projects are designed,


y

Pr
op

Which makes him generous, affable, and kind,


For which he takes such pains to be thought wise,
ity
C

And screws his actions in a forced disguise,


rs
w

Leads a most tedious life in misery


ie

ve

Under laborious, mean hypocrisy.


y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

satyr – (1) an old spelling of ‘satire’; (2) a creature who is part-animal and part-man
ie
id

(who might be seen as a narrator speaking against mankind)


ev
br

in arms – i.e. armed with weapons


dear-bought – obtained at great cost
am

-R
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Look to the bottom of this vast design,
y Wherein man’s wisdom, power, and glory join:

Pr
op
The good he acts, the ill he does endure,

ity
’Tis all from fear, to make himself secure.
C

Merely for safety, after fame they thirst,

rs
w

For all men would be cowards if they durst,


ie

ve
And honesty’s against all common sense:

y
ev

op
ni
Men must be knaves, ’tis in their own defence.
R

C
ge

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am

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y
ev

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durst – dared
ev
br

knaves – rogues, scoundrels


am

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The Chimney-Sweeper’s Complaint

y
ev

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Mary Alcock
R

C
ge

w
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id

ev
br

A chimney-sweeper’s boy am I;
Pity my wretched fate!
am

-R
Ah, turn your eyes; ’twould draw a tear,
-C

Knew you my helpless state.

s
es
y

Far from my home, no parents I


Pr
op

Am ever doomed to see;


ity
C

My master, should I sue to him,


He’d flog the skin from me.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
Ah, dearest madam, dearest sir,
ev

op
ni

Have pity on my youth;


R

Though black, and covered o’er with rags,


C
ge

I tell you naught but truth.


w
ie
id

My feeble limbs, benumbed with cold,


ev
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Totter beneath the sack,


am

-R

Which ere the morning dawn appears


Is loaded on my back.
-C

s
es

My legs you see are burnt and bruised,


y

Pr
op

My feet are galled by stones,


My flesh for lack of food is gone,
ity
C

I’m little else but bones.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

chimney-sweeper’s boy – Note: children were routinely employed to clean chimneys,


U

since they were small enough to crawl up into them


ge

doomed – destined
ie
id

sue to – petition, seek help from


ev
br

ere – before
am

galled – injured, hurt


-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 93

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Yet still my master makes me work,
y Nor spares me day or night;

Pr
op
His ’prentice boy he says I am,

ity
And he will have his right.
C

rs
w

‘Up to the highest top,’ he cries,


ie

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‘There call out chimney-sweep!’

y
ev

op
ni
With panting heart and weeping eyes,
R

U
Trembling I upwards creep.

C
ge

w
But stop! no more – I see him come;

ie
id

Kind sir, remember me!

ev
br

Oh, could I hide me under ground,


am

-R
How thankful should I be!
-C

s
es
y

Pr
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C

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am

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y
ev

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ni
R

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’prentice – apprentice
am

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94 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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The Chimney-Sweeper

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ev

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William Blake
R

C
ge

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A little black thing among the snow,


Crying ‘weep, ‘weep, in notes of woe!
am

-R
Where are thy father and mother, say?
-C

‘They are both gone up to the church to pray.

s
es
y

‘Because I was happy upon the heath


Pr
op

And smiled among the winter’s snow,


ity
C

They clothed me in the clothes of death


And taught me to sing the notes of woe.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
‘And because I am happy and dance and sing,
ev

op
ni

They think they have done me no injury:


R

And are gone to praise God and his priest and king,
C
ge

Who make up a heaven of our misery.’


w
ie
id

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am

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 95

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Song: The Unconcerned

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Thomas Flatman
R

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Now that the world is all in amaze,


Drums and trumpets rending heavens,
am

-R
Wounds a-bleeding, mortals dying,
-C

Widows and orphans piteously crying;

s
es
Armies marching, towns in a blaze,
y

Kingdoms and states at sixes and sevens:


Pr
op

What should an honest fellow do,


ity
C

Whose courage and fortunes run equally low?


Let him live, say I, till his glass be run,
rs
w

As easily as he may;
ie

ve

y
Let the wine and the sand of his glass flow together,
ev

op
ni

For life’s but a winter’s day;


R

Alas! from sun to sun


C
ge

The time’s very short, very dirty the weather,


w
And we silently creep away.
ie
id

Let him nothing do he could wish undone,


ev
br

And keep himself safe from the noise of a gun.


am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

amaze – amazement (literally lost in a maze)


ge

rending – tearing, splitting


ie
id

at sixes and sevens – in a state of confusion


ev
br

glass – hourglass (an early device to measure time, using sand running through a glass)
am

-R
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96 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Careless Content

y
ev

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John Byrom
R

C
ge

w
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id

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I am content, I do not care,


am

Wag as it will the world for me;

-R
When fuss and fret was all my fare,
-C

It got no ground, as I could see:

s
es
So when away my caring went,
y

I counted cost, and was content.


Pr
op

ity
C

With more of thanks, and less of thought,


I strive to make my matters meet;
rs
w

To seek what ancient sages sought,


ie

ve

y
Physic and food, in sour and sweet:
ev

op
ni

To take what passes in good part,


R

C
And keep the hiccups from the heart.
ge

w
With good and gentle-humoured hearts,
ie
id

I choose to chat where’er I come,


ev
br

Whate’er the subject be that starts;


am

-R

But if I get among the glum,


I hold my tongue to tell the troth,
-C

And keep my breath to cool my broth.


es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

wag – carry on its way


op
ni

fare – provision, food, means of living


R

got no ground – made no profit


ge

meet – suitable, sufficient


w

sages – wise people


ie
id

physic – medicine
ev
br

troth – promise, pledge of faith


am

-R
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For chance or change, of peace or pain,
y For Fortune’s favour or her frown;

Pr
op
For lack or glut, for loss or gain,

ity
I never dodge, nor up nor down:
C

But swing what way the ship shall swim,

rs
w

Or tack about with equal trim.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
I suit not where I shall not speed,
R

U
Nor trace the turn of every tide;

C
ge
If simple sense will not succeed,

w
I make no bustling, but abide:

ie
id

For shining wealth, or scaring woe,

ev
br

I force no friend, I fear no foe.


am

-R
Of ups and downs, of ins and outs,
-C

s
Of ‘they’re in the wrong’ and ‘we’re in the right’,

es
I shun the rancours and the routs,
y

Pr
And, wishing well to every wight,
op

Whatever turn the matter takes,


ity
C

I deem it all but ducks and drakes.


rs
w
ie

ve

With whom I feast I do not fawn,

y
ev

Nor, if the folks should flout me, faint;

op
ni

If wonted welcome be withdrawn,


R

C
I cook no kind of a complaint:
ge

w
With none disposed to disagree,
ie
id

But like them best, who best like me.


ev
br
am

-R

glut – superfluity
nor . . . nor – neither . . . nor
-C

tack – navigate (a ship)


es

trim – balance (of a ship)


y

Pr

suit not – don’t fit in


op

speed – succeed, thrive


ity
C

bustling – fuss
rs
w

abide – stay
ie

ve

wight – person
y
ev

deem – consider
op
ni

ducks and drakes – game of skimming stones


R

fawn – grovel to
ge

flout – abuse, mock


ie
id

wonted – usual, customary


ev
br

hank – restraining hold


business – commotion
am

-R

hap – event, chance


-C

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98 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Not that I rate myself the rule
y How all my betters should behave;

Pr
op
But fame shall find me no man’s fool,

ity
Nor to a set of men a slave:
C

I love a friendship free and frank,

rs
w

And hate to hang upon a hank.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
Fond of a true and trusty tie,
R

U
I never lose where’er I link,

C
ge Though if a business budges by,

w
I talk thereon just as I think:

ie
id

My word, my work, my heart, my hand,

ev
br

Still on a side together stand.


am

-R
If names or notions make a noise,
-C

s
Whatever hap the question hath,

es
The point impartially I poise,
y

Pr
And read or write, but without
op

wrath;
ity
C

For, should I burn or break my brains,


rs
w

Pray, who will pay me for my pains?


ie

ve

y
ev

I love my neighbour as myself,

op
ni

Myself like him, too, by his leave;


R

C
Nor to his pleasure, power or pelf,
ge

w
Came I to crouch, as I conceive:
ie
id

Dame Nature doubtless has designed


ev
br

A man the monarch of his mind.


am

-R

Now taste, and try this temper, sirs,


-C

Mood it and brood it in your


s
es

breast;
y

Or if ye ween, for worldly stirs,


Pr
op

That man does right to mar his rest,


ity
C

Let me be deft and debonair,


I am content, I do not care.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

by his leave – if he will allow me


op
ni

pelf – money, riches


R

crouch – kneel in servile flattery


ge

mood . . . brood – reflect upon . . . consider


ie
id

ween – believe
ev
br

stirs – commotion, fuss


deft – gentle, skilful
am

-R

debonair – airy, blithe, carefree


-C

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Sonnet 16: On His Blindness

y
ev

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ni
John Milton
R

C
ge

w
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id

ev
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When I consider how my light is spent,


Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
am

-R
And that one talent which is death to hide,
-C

Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent

s
es
To serve therewith my maker, and present
y

My true account, lest he, returning, chide;


Pr
op

‘Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?’


ity
C

I fondly ask: but Patience, to prevent


That murmur, soon replies, ‘God doth not need
rs
w

Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best


ie

ve

y
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best; his state
ev

op
ni

Is kingly – thousands at his bidding speed


R

And post o’er land and ocean without rest:


C
ge

They also serve who only stand and wait.’


w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

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Pr
op

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C

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w
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y
ev

spent – extinguished
op
ni

ere – before
R

talent – artistic disposition


ge

exact day-labour – commission work by the day


w

prevent – forestall
ie
id

murmur – grumble
ev
br

post – hasten
am

-R
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100 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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The Collar

y
ev

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ni
George Herbert
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

I struck the board, and cried, ‘No more,


I will abroad!
am

-R
What? shall I ever sigh and pine?
-C

My lines and life are free, free as the road,

s
es
Loose as the wind, as large as store.
y

Shall I be still in suit?


Pr
op

Have I no harvest but a thorn


ity

To let me blood, and not restore


C

What I have lost with cordial fruit?


rs
w

Sure there was wine


ie

ve

Before my sighs did dry it; there was corn

y
ev

op
ni

Before my tears did drown it.


R

Is the year only lost to me?


C
ge

Have I no bays to crown it?


w
No flowers, no garlands gay? All blasted?
ie
id

All wasted?
ev
br

Not so, my heart: but there is fruit,


am

-R

And thou hast hands.


-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

collar – (1) an emblem of disciplined restraint (like both a dog’s collar and a vicar’s
rs
w

‘dog-collar’); (2) a pun on ‘Choler’ = anger


ie

ve

board – dining table or communion table (at both of which the speaker serves)
y
ev

lines – (1) routes, courses; (2) lines of poetry


op
ni

suit – service
R

cordial – restorative
ge

sure – certainly
ie
id

only – wholly
ev
br

bays – garland of laurels, symbolising poetic excellence


blasted – blighted, withered
am

-R
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Recover all thy sigh-blown age
y On double pleasures: leave thy cold dispute

Pr
op
Of what is fit, and not. Forsake thy cage,

ity
Thy rope of sands,
C

Which petty thoughts have made, and made to thee

rs
w

Good cable, to enforce and draw


ie

ve
And be thy law,

y
ev

op
ni
While thou didst wink and wouldst not see.
R

U
Away; take heed,

C
ge I will abroad,

w
Call in thy death’s head there: tie up thy fears.

ie
id

He that forbears

ev
br

To suit and serve his need


am

-R
Deserves his load.’
But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild
-C

s
At every word,

es
Me thoughts I heard one calling, ‘Child!’
y

Pr
And I replied, ‘My Lord.’
op

ity
C

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y
ev

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ni
R

C
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am

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Pr
op

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C

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y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

rope of sands – fragile connection


ie
id

wink – close one’s eyes, be inattentive


ev
br

death’s head – the skull as an object of meditation about mortality


am

me thoughts – it seemed to me that


-R
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Quickness

y
ev

op
ni
Henry Vaughan
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

False life! a foil and no more, when


Wilt thou be gone?
am

-R
Thou foul deception of all men
-C

That would not have the true come on.

s
es
Thou art a moon-like toil; a blind
y

Pr
Self-posing state;
op

A dark contest of waves and wind;


ity
C

A mere tempestuous debate.


rs
w

Life is a fixed, discerning light,


ie

ve

A knowing joy;

y
ev

op
ni

No chance, or fit: but ever bright


R

And calm and full, yet doth not cloy.

C
ge

’Tis such a blissful thing that still


w
ie
Doth vivify
id

ev

And shine and smile, and hath the skill


br

To please without eternity.


am

-R

Thou art a toilsome mole, or less,


-C

A moving mist;
es

But life is, what none can express,


y

Pr

A quickness, which my God hath kissed.


op

ity
C

rs
w

foil – (1) shiny reflective surface; (2) dull background that sets off a jewel’s brightness
ie

ve

moon-like – i.e. changeable, inconstant


y
ev

self-posing – self-destructive
op
ni

fit – passing convulsion


R

cloy – over-satisfy, sicken


ge

still – always
ie
id

vivify – come into life, render vivid, brighten


ev
br

toilsome – hard-working, labouring


am

quickness – fleeting spirit


-R
-C

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Death the Leveller

y
ev

op
ni
James Shirley
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

The glories of our blood and state


Are shadows, not substantial things;
am

-R
There is no armour against fate;
-C

Death lays his icy hand on kings;

s
es
Sceptre and crown
y

Must tumble down,


Pr
op

And in the dust be equal made


ity

With the poor crooked scythe and spade.


C

rs
w

Some men with swords may reap the field,


ie

ve

And plant fresh laurels where they kill,

y
ev

op
ni

But their strong nerves at last must yield;


R

They tame but one another still;


C
ge

Early or late
w
They stoop to fate,
ie
id

And must give up the murmuring breath


ev
br

When they, pale captives, creep to death.


am

-R

The garlands wither on your brow;


-C

Then boast no more your mighty deeds;


es

Upon Death’s purple altar now


y

Pr

See where the victor-victim bleeds.


op

Your heads must come


ity
C

To the cold tomb;


rs
w

Only the actions of the just


ie

ve

Smell sweet, and blossom in their dust.


y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev

sceptre and crown – symbols of royalty and power


br

scythe and spade – symbols of manual labour


am

-R
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Sonnet: Death, Be Not Proud

y
ev

op
ni
John Donne
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee


Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
am

-R
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
-C

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

s
es
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
y

Much pleasure – then from thee much more must flow,


Pr
op

And soonest our best men with thee do go:


ity

Rest of their bones, and souls’ delivery.


C

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,


rs
w

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,


ie

ve

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well,

y
ev

op
ni

And better than thy stroke. Why swell’st thou then?


R

One short sleep past, we wake eternally,


C
ge

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.


w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

pictures – resemblances, images


R

then – it follows that


ge

soonest – most readily


w
ie

poppy – narcotics
id

ev

charms – spells
br

swell’st – puff up with pride


am

-R
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Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

y
ev

op
ni
Thomas Gray
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,


The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea,
am

-R
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
-C

And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

s
es
y

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,


Pr
op

And all the air a solemn stillness holds,


ity

Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,


C

And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds;


rs
w
ie

ve

y
Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower
ev

op
ni

The moping owl does to the moon complain


R

Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,


C
ge

Molest her ancient solitary reign.


w
ie
id

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade,


ev
br

Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,


am

-R

Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,


The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
-C

s
es

The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,


y

Pr

The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,


op

The cock’s shrill clarion or the echoing horn,


ity
C

No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

curfew – the evening bell


op
ni
R

knell – the funeral bell


U

lea – meadow
ge

save – except
ie
id

folds – enclosures for sheep


ev
br

bower – arbour, leafy glade


am

hamlet – small village


-R
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For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
y Or busy housewife ply her evening care:

Pr
op
No children run to lisp their sire’s return,

ity
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.
C

rs
w

Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,


ie

ve
Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;

y
ev

op
ni
How jocund did they drive their team afield!
R

U
How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!

C
ge

w
Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,

ie
id

Their homely joys and destiny obscure;

ev
br

Nor Grandeur hear, with a disdainful smile,


am

-R
The short and simple annals of the poor.
-C

s
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

es
And all that beauty, all that wealth, e’er gave,
y

Pr
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
op

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.


ity
C

rs
w

Nor you, ye Proud, impute to these the fault,


ie

ve

If Memory o’er the tomb no trophies raise,

y
ev

Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault

op
ni

The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.


R

C
ge

w
Can storied urn or animated bust
ie
id

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?


ev
br

Can Honour’s voice provoke the silent dust,


am

Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?


-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w

sire – father
ie

ve

stubborn glebe – clotted earth


y
ev

jocund – cheerfully
op
ni
R

team – i.e. of livestock, used for ploughing


U

annals – chronicles, history


ge

trophies – memorial sculptures


ie
id

fretted – intricately built


ev
br

storied – tiered, raised on plinths


am

animated bust – lifelike sculpture


-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 107

-C

s
es
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
y Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;

Pr
op
Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed,

ity
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.
C

rs
w

But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page,


ie

ve
Rich with the spoils of time, did ne’er unroll;

y
ev

op
ni
Chill Penury repressed their noble rage,
R

U
And froze the genial current of the soul.

C
ge

w
Full many a gem of purest ray serene

ie
id

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:

ev
br

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen


am

-R
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
-C

s
Some village-Hampden that with dauntless breast

es
The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
y

Pr
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
op

Some Cromwell guiltless of his country’s blood.


ity
C

rs
w

Th’applause of listening senates to command,


ie

ve

The threats of pain and ruin to despise,

y
ev

To scatter plenty o’er a smiling land,

op
ni

And read their history in a nation’s eyes,


R

C
ge

w
Their lot forbade: nor circumscribed alone
ie
id

Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined;


ev
br

Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,


am

And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,


-R
-C

The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,


s
es

To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,


y

Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride


Pr
op

With incense kindled at the Muse’s flame.


ity
C

rs
w

pregnant with – full of, inspired by


ie

ve

rod – sceptre
y
ev

waked – brought into life


op
ni

desert – deserted
R

Hampden . . . Milton . . . .Cromwell – notable anti-Royalist figures in the English Civil


ge

War: the statesman John Hampden; the poet John Milton; and the Lord Protector
ie
id

Oliver Cromwell
ev
br

dauntless – fearless
circumscribed . . . confined – denied, restricted
am

-R

ingenuous – guiltless, innocent


-C

s
es

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id

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-R
108 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
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Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife
y Their sober wishes never learned to stray;

Pr
op
Along the cool sequestered vale of life

ity
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
C

rs
w

Yet even these bones, from insult to protect,


ie

ve
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,

y
ev

op
ni
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture decked,
R

U
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.

C
ge

w
Their name, their years, spelt by th’unlettered muse,

ie
id

The place of fame and elegy supply:

ev
br

And many a holy text around she strews,


am

-R
That teach the rustic moralist to die.
-C

s
For who, to dumb Forgetfulness a prey,

es
This pleasing anxious being e’er resigned,
y

Pr
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
op

Nor cast one longing lingering look behind?


ity
C

rs
w

On some fond breast the parting soul relies,


ie

ve

Some pious drops the closing eye requires;

y
ev

Even from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,

op
ni

Even in our ashes live their wonted fires.


R

C
ge

w
For thee who, mindful of th’unhonoured dead,
ie
id

Dost in these lines their artless tale relate;


ev
br

If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,


am

Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate,


-R
-C

Haply some hoary-headed swain may say,


s
es

‘Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn


y

Brushing with hasty steps the dews away


Pr
op

To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.


ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

sequestered vale – secluded valley


op
ni
R

tenor – routine
U

unlettered – illiterate
ge

wonted – accustomed
ie
id

haply – perhaps
ev
br

hoary-headed – white-haired
am

swain – countryman
-R
-C

s
es

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 109

-C

s
es
‘There at the foot of yonder nodding beech
y That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,

Pr
op
His listless length at noontide would he stretch,

ity
And pore upon the brook that babbles by.
C

rs
w

‘Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,


ie

ve
Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove,

y
ev

op
ni
Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,
R

U
Or crazed with care, or crossed in hopeless love.

C
ge

w
‘One morn I missed him on the customed hill,

ie
id

Along the heath, and near his favourite tree;

ev
br

Another came; nor yet beside the rill,


am

-R
Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;
-C

s
‘The next with dirges due in sad array

es
Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne.
y

Pr
Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay,
op

Graved on the stone beneath yon agèd thorn.’


ity
C

rs
w

The Epitaph
ie

ve

y
ev

Here rests his head upon the lap of earth

op
ni

A youth to fortune and to fame unknown.


R

C
Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth,
ge

w
And Melancholy marked him for her own.
ie
id

ev
br

Large was his bounty and his soul sincere,


Heaven did a recompense as largely send:
am

-R

He gave to Misery all he had, a tear;


-C

He gained from heaven (’twas all he wished) a friend.


s
es
y

No farther seek his merits to disclose,


Pr
op

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode


ity

(There they alike in trembling hope repose),


C

The bosom of his Father and his God.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

yon – yonder, that one (over there)


U

rill – stream, brook


ge

dirges due – appropriate laments


ie
id

lay – song
ev
br

science – learning, wisdom


am

bounty – generosity
-R
-C

s
es

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110 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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y

Pr
op
73

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Kubla Khan

y
ev

op
ni
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan


A stately pleasure-dome decree:
am

-R
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
-C

Through caverns measureless to man

s
es
Down to a sunless sea.
y

So twice five miles of fertile ground


Pr
op

With walls and towers were girdled round:


ity

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills


C

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;


rs
w

And here were forests ancient as the hills,


ie

ve

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

y
ev

op
ni
R

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted


C
ge

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!


w
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
ie
id

As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted


ev
br

By woman wailing for her demon-lover!


am

-R

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,


As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
-C

A mighty fountain momently was forced:


es

Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst


y

Pr

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,


op

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:


ity
C

And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever


rs
w

It flung up momently the sacred river.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

rills – streams, brooks


ie
id

athwart – across from side to side


ev
br

cedarn cover – thicket of cedar-trees


am

chaffy – like corn husks


-R
-C

s
es

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 111

-C

s
es
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
y Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,

Pr
op
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,

ity
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
C

And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

rs
w

Ancestral voices prophesying war!


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
R

U
Floated midway on the waves;

C
ge Where was heard the mingled measure

w
From the fountain and the caves.

ie
id

It was a miracle of rare device,

ev
br

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!


am

-R
A damsel with a dulcimer
-C

s
In a vision once I saw:

es
It was an Abyssinian maid,
y

Pr
And on her dulcimer she played,
op

Singing of Mount Abora.


ity
C

Could I revive within me


rs
w

Her symphony and song,


ie

ve

To such a deep delight ’twould win me

y
ev

That with music loud and long,

op
ni

I would build that dome in air,


R

C
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
ge

w
And all who heard should see them there,
ie
id

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!


ev
br

His flashing eyes, his floating hair!


am

Weave a circle round him thrice,


-R

And close your eyes with holy dread,


-C

For he on honey-dew hath fed,


s
es

And drunk the milk of Paradise.


y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

dulcimer – stringed instrument


am

-R
-C

s
es

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112 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

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es
y

Pr
op
74

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
From An Essay on Man

y
ev

op
ni
Alexander Pope
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;


The proper study of mankind is man.
am

-R
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
-C

A being darkly wise, and rudely great:

s
es
With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
y

With too much weakness for the stoic’s pride,


Pr
op

He hangs between; in doubt to act or rest,


ity
C

In doubt to deem himself a god or beast,


In doubt his mind or body to prefer,
rs
w

Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;


ie

ve

y
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
ev

op
ni

Whether he thinks too little or too much:


R

Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;


C
ge

Still by himself abused or disabused;


w
Created half to rise and half to fall,
ie
id

Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;


ev
br

Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:


am

-R

The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!


-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

scan – measure, contemplate


ie
id

isthmus – a strip of land connecting two land-masses over the sea


ev
br

sceptic – doubtful of the validity of human knowledge


am

stoic – one who suppresses emotion at life’s disappointments


-R
-C

s
es

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R R R
ev ev ev
ie ie ie
w w w
C C C
op op op
y y y
-C -C -C -C
am am am am
br br br br
id id id id
ge ge ge
U U U
ni ni ni
ve ve ve
rs rs rs
ity ity ity
Part 3
Pr Pr Pr
es es es es
s s s s
-R -R -R -R
ev ev ev ev
Poems from the Nineteenth
ie ie and Twentieth Centuries (I) ie ie
w w w

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C C C
op op op
y y y
R R R
ev ev ev
ie ie ie
w w w
C C C
op op op
y y y
-C -C -C -C
am am am am
br br br br
id id id id
ge ge ge
U U U
ni ni ni
ve ve ve
rs rs rs
ity ity ity
Pr Pr Pr
es es es es
s s s s
-R -R -R -R
ev ev ev ev
ie ie ie ie
w w w

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 115

-C

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y

Pr
op
75

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Caged Bird

y
ev

op
ni
Maya Angelou
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

A free bird leaps


on the back of the wind
am

-R
and floats downstream
-C

till the current ends

s
es
and dips his wing
y

in the orange sun’s rays


Pr
op

and dares to claim the sky.


ity
C

But a bird that stalks


rs
w

down his narrow cage


ie

ve

y
can seldom see through
ev

op
ni

his bars of rage


R

his wings are clipped and


C
ge

his feet are tied


w
so he opens his throat to sing.
ie
id

ev
br

The caged bird sings


am

-R

with a fearful trill


of things unknown
-C

but longed for still


es

and his tune is heard


y

Pr
op

on the distant hill


for the caged bird
ity
C

sings of freedom.
rs
w
ie

ve

The free bird thinks of another breeze


y
ev

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees


op
ni
R

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn


U

and he names the sky his own.


ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es

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116 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
es
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
y his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

Pr
op
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

ity
so he opens his throat to sing.
C

rs
w

The caged bird sings


ie

ve
with a fearful trill

y
ev

op
ni
of things unknown
R

U
but longed for still

C
ge
and his tune is heard

w
on the distant hill

ie
id

for the caged bird

ev
br

sings of freedom.
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
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am

-R
-C

s
es

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 117

-C

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es
y

Pr
op
76

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Rising Five

y
ev

op
ni
Norman Nicholson
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

‘I’m rising five’, he said,


‘Not four’, and little coils of hair
am

-R
Un-clicked themselves upon his head.
-C

His spectacles, brimful of eyes to stare

s
es
At me and the meadow, reflected cones of light
y

Above his toffee-buckled cheeks. He’d been alive


Pr
op

Fifty-six months or perhaps a week more:


ity

not four,
C

But rising five.


rs
w
ie

ve

Around him in the field the cells of spring

y
ev

op
ni

Bubbled and doubled; buds unbuttoned; shoot


R

And stem shook out the creases from their frills,


C
ge

And every tree was swilled with green.


w
It was the season after blossoming,
ie
id

Before the forming of the fruit:


ev
br

not May,
am

-R

But rising June.


-C

And in the sky


es

The dust dissected tangential light:


y

Pr

not day,
op

But rising night;


ity
C

not now,
rs
w

But rising soon.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

rising five – nearly five years old


ie
id

toffee-buckled – i.e. distorted by chewing toffee


ev
br

swilled – rinsed
tangential – issuing at an angle
am

-R
-C

s
es

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118 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
es
The new buds push the old leaves from the bough.
y We drop our youth behind us like a boy

Pr
op
Throwing away his toffee-wrappers. We never see the flower,

ity
But only the fruit in the flower; never the fruit,
C

But only the rot in the fruit. We look for the marriage bed

rs
w

In the baby’s cradle, we look for the grave in the bed:


ie

ve
not living,

y
ev

op
ni
But rising dead.
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

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es

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 119

-C

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y

Pr
op
77

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Little Boy Crying

y
ev

op
ni
Mervyn Morris
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt,


your laughter metamorphosed into howls,
am

-R
your frame so recently relaxed now tight
-C

with three-year-old frustration, your bright eyes

s
es
swimming tears, splashing your bare feet,
y

you stand there angling for a moment’s hint


Pr
op

of guilt or sorrow for the quick slap struck.


ity
C

The ogre towers above you, that grim giant,


rs
w

empty of feeling, a colossal cruel,


ie

ve

y
soon victim of the tale’s conclusion, dead
ev

op
ni

at last. You hate him, you imagine


R

chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling down


C
ge

or plotting deeper pits to trap him in.


w
ie
id

You cannot understand, not yet,


ev
br

the hurt your easy tears can scald him with,


am

-R

nor guess the wavering hidden behind that mask.


this fierce man longs to lift you, curb your sadness
-C

with piggy-back or bull-fight, anything,


es

but dare not ruin the lessons you should learn.


y

Pr
op

You must not make a plaything of the rain.


ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es

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120 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

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y

Pr
op
78

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Carpet-weavers, Morocco

y
ev

op
ni
Carol Rumens
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

The children are at the loom of another world.


Their braids are oiled and black, their dresses bright.
am

-R
Their assorted heights would make a melodious chime.
-C

s
es
They watch their flickering knots like television.
y

As the garden of Islam grows, the bench will be raised.


Pr
op

Then they will lace the dark-rose veins of the tree-tops.


ity
C

The carpet will travel in the merchant’s truck.


rs
w

It will be spread by the servants of the mosque.


ie

ve

y
Deep and soft, it will give when heaped with prayer.
ev

op
ni
R

The children are hard at work in the school of days.


C
ge

From their fingers the colours of all-that-will-be fly


w
and freeze into the frame of all-that-was.
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

garden of Islam – i.e. the carpet’s abstract pattern


am

-R
-C

s
es

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 121

-C

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y

Pr
op
79

ity
C

rs
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ie

ve
Song to the Men of England

y
ev

op
ni
Percy Bysshe Shelley
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Men of England, wherefore plough


am

For the lords who lay ye low?

-R
Wherefore weave with toil and care
-C

The rich robes your tyrants wear?

s
es
y

Pr
op

Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,


From the cradle to the grave,
ity
C

Those ungrateful drones who would


rs
w

Drain your sweat–nay, drink your blood?


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

Wherefore, Bees of England, forge


R

Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,


C
ge

That these stingless drones may spoil


w
The forced produce of your toil?
ie
id

ev
br

Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,


am

-R

Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?


-C

Or what is it ye buy so dear


s
es

With your pain and with your fear?


y

Pr
op

The seed ye sow, another reaps;


ity
C

The wealth ye find, another keeps;


rs
w

The robes ye weave, another wears;


ie

ve

The arms ye forge, another bears.


y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

wherefore – why
ie
id

drones – idlers (literally non-working, male honey-bees)


ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
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Sow seed–but let no tyrant reap;
y Find wealth–let no impostor heap;

Pr
op
Weave robes–let not the idle wear;

ity
Forge arms–in your defence to bear.
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;

y
ev

In halls ye deck another dwells.

op
ni
Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see
R

C
The steel ye tempered glance on ye.
ge

w
ie
id
With plough and spade, and hoe and loom,

ev
br

Trace your grave, and build your tomb,


am

-R
And weave your winding-sheet–till fair
England be your sepulchre.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

heap – pile up, hoard (money)


ge

deck – decorate
ie
id

tempered – rendered hard (of metal)


ev
br

glance – strike at an angle


am

winding-sheet – shroud
-R
-C

s
es

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 123

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op
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ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
From Spectator Ab Extra

y
ev

op
ni
Arthur Hugh Clough
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

As I sat at the Café I said to myself,


They may talk as they please about what they call pelf,
am

-R
They may sneer as they like about eating and drinking,
-C

But help it I cannot, I cannot help thinking

s
es
How pleasant it is to have money, heigh-ho!
y

How pleasant it is to have money.


Pr
op

I sit at my table en grand seigneur,


ity
C

And when I have done, throw a crust to the poor;


rs
w

Not only the pleasure itself of good living,


ie

ve

y
But also the pleasure of now and then giving:
ev

op
ni

So pleasant it is to have money, heigh-ho!


R

So pleasant it is to have money.


C
ge

w
They may talk as they please about what they call pelf,
ie
id

And how one ought never to think of one’s self,


ev
br

How pleasures of thought surpass eating and drinking,–


am

-R

My pleasure of thought is the pleasure of thinking


How pleasant it is to have money, heigh-ho!
-C

How pleasant it is to have money.


es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Spectator ab extra – (Latin) the watcher from outside


ev
br

pelf – money
en grand seigneur – (French) in the manner of a gentleman
am

-R
-C

s
es

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-R
124 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Monologue

y
ev

op
ni
Hone Tuwhare
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

I like working near a door. I like to have my work-bench


close by, with a locker handy.
am

-R
-C

Here, the cold creeps in under the big doors, and in the

s
es
summer hot dust swirls, clogging the nose. When the
y

big doors open to admit a lorry-load of steel, conditions


Pr
op

do not improve. Even so, I put up with it, and wouldn’t


ity
C

care to shift to another bench, away from the big doors.


rs
w

As one may imagine this is a noisy place with smoke rising,


ie

ve

y
machines thumping and thrusting, people kneading, shaping,
ev

op
ni

and putting things together. Because I am nearest to


R

the big doors I am the farthest away


C
ge

from those who have to come down to shout instructions


w
in my ear.
ie
id

ev
br

I am the first to greet strangers who drift in through the


am

-R

open doors looking for work. I give them as much information


as they require, direct them to the offices, and
-C

acknowledge the casual recognition that one worker


es

signs to another.
y

Pr
op

I can always tell the look on the faces of the successful


ity
C

ones as they hurry away. The look on the faces of the


rs
w

unlucky I know also, but cannot easily forget.


ie

ve

y
ev

I have worked here for fifteen months.


op
ni
R

It’s too good to last.


U

Orders will fall off


ge

and there will be a reduction in staff.


ie
id

More people than we can cope with


ev
br

will be brought in from other lands:


am

people who are also looking


-R
-C

s
es

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 125

-C

s
es
for something more real, more lasting,
y more permanent maybe, than dying. . . .

Pr
op
I really ought to be looking for another job

ity
before the axe falls.
C

rs
w

These thoughts I push away, I think that I am lucky


ie

ve
to have a position by the big doors which open out

y
ev

op
ni
to a short alley leading to the main street; console
R

U
myself that if the worst happened I at least would

C
ge
have no great distance to carry my gear and tool-box

w
off the premises.

ie
id

ev
br

I always like working near a door. I always look for a


am

-R
work-bench hard by – in case an earthquake
occurs and fire breaks out, you know?
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
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am

-R
-C

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126 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

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Pr
op
82

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
The Justice of the Peace

y
ev

op
ni
Hilaire Belloc
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Distinguish carefully between these two,


This thing is yours, that other thing is mine.
am

-R
You have a shirt, a brimless hat, a shoe
-C

And half a coat. I am the Lord benign

s
es
Of fifty hundred acres of fat land
y

To which I have a right. You understand?


Pr
op

ity
C

I have a right because I have, because,


Because I have – because I have right.
rs
w

Now be quite calm and good, obey the laws,


ie

ve

y
Remember your low station, do not fight
ev

op
ni

Against the good, because, you know, it pricks


R

Whenever the uncleanly demos kicks.


C
ge

w
I do not envy you your hat, your shoe.
ie
id

Why should you envy me my small estate?


ev
br

It’s fearfully illogical in you


am

-R

To fight with economic force and fate.


Moreover, I have got the upper hand,
-C

And mean to keep it. Do you understand?


es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev

Justice of the Peace – magistrate


br

demos – populace, common people


am

-R
-C

s
es

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 127

-C

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Pr
op
83

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Before the Sun

y
ev

op
ni
Charles Mungoshi
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Intense blue morning


promising early heat
am

-R
and later in the afternoon,
-C

heavy rain.

s
es
y

The bright chips Pr


op

fly from the sharp axe


ity

for some distance through the air,


C

arc,
rs
w

and eternities later,


ie

ve

settle down in showers

y
ev

op
ni

on the dewy grass.


R

C
ge

It is a big log:
w
but when you are fourteen
ie
id

big logs
ev
br

are what you want.


am

-R

The wood gives off


-C

a sweet nose-cleansing odour


es

which (unlike sawdust)


y

Pr

doesn’t make one sneeze.


op

ity
C

It sends up a thin spiral


rs
w

of smoke which later straightens


ie

ve

and flutes out


y
ev

to the distant sky: a signal


op
ni

of some sort,
R

or a sacrificial prayer.
ge

w
ie
id

The wood hisses,


ev
br

The sparks fly.


am

-R
-C

s
es

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128 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
es
And when the sun
y finally shows up

Pr
op
in the East like some

ity
latecomer to a feast
C

I have got two cobs of maize

rs
w

ready for it.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
I tell the sun to come share
R

U
with me the roasted maize

C
ge and the sun just winks

w
like a grown-up.

ie
id

ev
br

So I go ahead, taking big


am

-R
alternate bites:
one for the sun,
-C

s
one for me.

es
This one for the sun,
y

Pr
this one for me:
op

till the cobs


ity
C

are just two little skeletons


rs
w

in the sun.
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
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am

-R
-C

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-R
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-C

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Pr
op
84

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Muliebrity

y
ev

op
ni
Sujata Bhatt
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

I have thought so much about the girl


who gathered cow-dung in a wide, round basket
am

-R
along the main road passing by our house
-C

and the Radhavallabh temple in Maninagar.

s
es
I have thought so much about the way she
y

moved her hands and her waist Pr


op

and the smell of cow-dung and road-dust and wet canna lilies,
ity

the smell of monkey breath and freshly washed clothes


C

and the dust from crows’ wings which smells different –


rs
w

and again the smell of cow-dung as the girl scoops


ie

ve

y
it up, all these smells surrounding me separately
ev

op
ni

and simultaneously – I have thought so much


R

but have been unwilling to use her for a metaphor,


C
ge

for a nice image – but most of all unwilling


w
to forget her or to explain to anyone the greatness
ie
id

and the power glistening through her cheekbones


ev
br

each time she found a particularly promising


am

-R

mound of dung –
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev

muliebrity – womanhood; female characteristics


br

canna lilies – large, leafy plants with bright flowers


am

-R
-C

s
es

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-C

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es
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Pr
op
85

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways

y
ev

op
ni
William Wordsworth
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

She dwelt among the untrodden ways


Beside the springs of Dove,
am

-R
A Maid whom there were none to praise
-C

And very few to love:

s
es
y

A violet by a mossy stone


Pr
op

Half hidden from the eye!


ity
C

– Fair as a star, when only one


Is shining in the sky.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
She lived unknown, and few could know
ev

op
ni

When Lucy ceased to be;


R

But she is in her grave, and, oh,


C
ge

The difference to me!


w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Dove – name of a river


am

-R
-C

s
es

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-C

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Pr
op
86

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Farmhand

y
ev

op
ni
James K. Baxter
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

You will see him light a cigarette


At the hall door careless, leaning his back
am

-R
Against the wall, or telling some new joke
-C

To a friend, or looking out into the secret night.

s
es
y

But always his eyes turn


Pr
op

To the dance floor and the girls drifting like flowers


ity
C

Before the music that tears


Slowly in his mind an old wound open.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
His red sunburnt face and hairy hands
ev

op
ni

Were not made for dancing or love-making


R

But rather the earth wave breaking


C
ge

To the plough, and crops slow-growing as his mind.


w
ie
id

He has no girl to run her fingers through


ev
br

His sandy hair, and giggle at his side


am

-R

When Sunday couples walk. Instead


He has his awkward hopes, his envious dreams to yarn to.
-C

s
es

But ah in harvest watch him


y

Pr
op

Forking stooks, effortless and strong –


Or listening like a lover to the song
ity
C

Clear, without fault, of a new tractor engine.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev

yarn – spin thread (or a story)


br

stooks – bundles of hay


am

-R
-C

s
es

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op
87

ity
C

rs
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ie

ve
Plenty

y
ev

op
ni
Isobel Dixon
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

When I was young and there were five of us,


all running riot to my mother’s quiet despair,
am

-R
our old enamel tub, age-stained and pocked
-C

upon its griffin claws, was never full.

s
es
y

Such plenty was too dear in our expanse of drought


Pr
op

where dams dried up and windmills stalled.


ity
C

Like Mommy’s smile. Her lips stretched back


and anchored down, in anger at some fault –
rs
w
ie

ve

y
of mine, I thought – not knowing then
ev

op
ni

it was a clasp to keep us all from chaos.


R

She saw it always, snapping locks and straps,


C
ge

the spilling: sums and worries, shopping lists


w
ie
id

for aspirin, porridge, petrol, bread.


ev
br

Even the toilet paper counted,


am

-R

and each month was weeks too long.


Her mouth a lid clamped hard on this.
-C

s
es

We thought her mean. Skipped chores,


y

Pr
op

swiped biscuits – best of all


when she was out of earshot
ity
C

stole another precious inch


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev

griffin – a mythical creature: a lion with an eagle’s head and wings


br

clasp – fastening clip


am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

ev
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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 133

-C

s
es
up to our chests, such lovely sin,
y lolling luxuriant in secret warmth

Pr
op
disgorged from fat brass taps,

ity
our old compliant co-conspirators.
C

rs
w

Now bubbles lap my chin. I am a sybarite.


ie

ve
The shower’s a hot cascade

y
ev

op
ni
and water’s plentiful, to excess, almost, here.
R

U
I leave the heating on.

C
ge

w
And miss my scattered sisters,

ie
id

all those bathroom squabbles and, at last,

ev
br

my mother’s smile, loosed from the bonds


am

-R
of lean, dry times and our long childhood.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

sybarite – one devoted to luxury


am

-R
-C

s
es

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134 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

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Pr
op
88

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Storyteller

y
ev

op
ni
Liz Lochhead
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

she sat down


at the scoured table
am

-R
in the swept kitchen
-C

beside the dresser with its cracked delft.

s
es
And every last crumb of daylight was salted away.
y

Pr
op

No one could say the stories were useless


ity
C

for as the tongue clacked


five or forty fingers stitched
rs
w

corn was grated from the husk


ie

ve

y
patchwork was pieced
ev

op
ni

or the darning done.


R

C
ge

Never the one to slander her shiftless.


w
Daily sloven or spotless no matter whether
ie
id

dishwater or tasty was her soup.


ev
br

To tell the stories was her work.


am

-R

It was like spinning,


gathering thin air to the singlest strongest
-C

thread. Night in
es

she’d have us waiting, held


y

Pr
op

breath, for the ending we knew by heart.


ity
C

And at first light


rs
w

as the women stirred themselves to build the fire


ie

ve

as the peasant’s feet felt for clogs


y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

dresser – kitchen shelves displaying dishes


ev
br

delft – old earthenware


salted away – scrupulously stored
am

-R
-C

s
es

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br
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-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 135

-C

s
es
as thin grey washed over flat fields
y the stories dissolved in the whorl of the ear

Pr
op
but they

ity
hung themselves upside down
C

in the sleeping heads of the children

rs
w

till they flew again


ie

ve
in the storytellers night.

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

whorl – coiled form


am

-R
-C

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es

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-C

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Pr
op
89

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Those Winter Sundays

y
ev

op
ni
Robert Hayden
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Sundays too my father got up early


and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
am

-R
then with cracked hands that ached
-C

from labor in the weekday weather made

s
es
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
y

Pr
op

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.


ity
C

When the rooms were warm, he’d call,


and slowly I would rise and dress,
rs
w

fearing the chronic angers of that house,


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

Speaking indifferently to him,


R

who had driven out the cold


C
ge

and polished my good shoes as well.


w
What did I know, what did I know
ie
id

of love’s austere and lonely offices?


ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev

banked – heaped with dust to ensure a slow burn; smouldering


br

offices – practical duties


am

-R
-C

s
es

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-R
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-C

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y

Pr
op
90

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
The Old Familiar Faces

y
ev

op
ni
Charles Lamb
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

I have had playmates, I have had companions,


In my days of childhood, in my joyful school-days;
am

-R
All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.
-C

s
es
I have been laughing, I have been carousing,
y

Drinking late, sitting late, with my bosom cronies;


Pr
op

All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.


ity
C

I loved a love once, fairest among women:


rs
w

Closed are her doors on me, I must not see her –


ie

ve

y
All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.
ev

op
ni
R

I have a friend, a kinder friend has no man:


C
ge

Like an ingrate, I left my friend abruptly;


w
Left him, to muse on the old familiar faces.
ie
id

ev
br

Ghost-like I paced round the haunts of my childhood,


am

-R

Earth seemed a desert I was bound to traverse,


Seeking to find the old familiar faces.
-C

s
es

Friend of my bosom, thou more than a brother,


y

Pr
op

Why wert not thou born in my father’s dwelling?


So might we talk of the old familiar faces.
ity
C

rs
w

How some they have died, and some they have left me,
ie

ve

And some are taken from me; all are departed;


y
ev

All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.


op
ni
R

C
ge

carousing – making merry


ie
id

bosom cronies – close friends


ev
br

ingrate – ungrateful person


am

-R

wert – were
-C

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es

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-C

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op
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ity
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ie

ve
Mid-Term Break

y
ev

op
ni
Seamus Heaney
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

I sat all morning in the college sick bay,


Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
am

-R
At two o’clock our neighbours drove me home.
-C

s
In the porch I met my father crying –

es
He had always taken funerals in his stride –
y

Pr
op

And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.


ity
C

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram


rs

When I came in, and I was embarrassed


w
ie

By old men standing up to shake my hand


ve

y
ev

op
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And tell me they were ‘sorry for my trouble’.


R

Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,


Away at school, as my mother held my hand
C
ge

w
ie
id

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.


ev
br

At ten o’clock the ambulance arrived


am

With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.


-R

Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops


-C

And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him


es

For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,


y

Pr
op

Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,


ity
C

He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.


rs
w

No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.


ie

ve

A four foot box, a foot for every year.


ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

knelling – tolling (as for a funeral)


ev
br

cot – child’s bed


bumper – protective bar on a car
am

-R
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The Listeners

y
ev

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Walter De La Mare
R

C
ge

w
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‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,


Knocking on the moonlit door;
am

-R
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
-C

Of the forest’s ferny floor.

s
es
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
y

Above the Traveller’s head:


Pr
op

And he smote upon the door again a second time;


ity
C

‘Is there anybody there?’ he said.


But no one descended to the Traveller;
rs
w

No head from the leaf-fringed sill


ie

ve

y
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
ev

op
ni

Where he stood perplexed and still.


R

But only a host of phantom listeners


C
ge

That dwelt in the lone house then


w
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
ie
id

To that voice from the world of men:


ev
br

Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,


am

-R

That goes down to the empty hall,


Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
-C

By the lonely Traveller’s call.


es

And he felt in his heart their strangeness,


y

Pr
op

Their stillness answering his cry,


While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
ity
C

’Neath the starred and leafy sky;


rs
w

For he suddenly smote on the door, even


ie

ve

Louder, and lifted his head: –


y
ev

‘Tell them I came, and no one answered,


op
ni
R

That I kept my word,’ he said.


U

C
ge

w
ie
id

champed – chewed
ev
br

ferny – covered with ferns


am

-R

hearkening – listening
-C

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140 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Never the least stir made the listeners,
y Though every word he spake

Pr
op
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house

ity
From the one man left awake:
C

Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,

rs
w

And the sound of iron on stone,


ie

ve
And how silence surged softly backward,

y
ev

op
ni
When the plunging hoofs were gone.
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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am

-R
-C

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Pr
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Not Waving But Drowning

y
ev

op
ni
Stevie Smith
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Nobody heard him, the dead man,


But still he lay moaning:
am

-R
I was much further out than you thought
-C

And not waving but drowning.

s
es
y

Poor chap, he’d always loved larking


Pr
op

And now he’s dead


ity
C

It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
ev

op
ni

(Still the dead one lay moaning)


R

I was much too far out all my life


C
ge

And not waving but drowning.


w
ie
id

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am

-R
-C

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y

Pr
op

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C

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y
ev

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R

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w
ie
id

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larking – larking about, indulging in playful behaviour


am

-R
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The Three Fates

y
ev

op
ni
Rosemary Dobson
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

At the instant of drowning he invoked the three sisters.


It was a mistake, an aberration, to cry out for
am

-R
Life everlasting.
-C

s
es
He came up like a cork and back to the river-bank,
y

Put on his clothes in reverse order,


Pr
op

Returned to the house.


ity
C

He suffered the enormous agonies of passion


rs
w

Writing poems from the end backwards,


ie

ve

y
Brushing away tears that had not yet fallen.
ev

op
ni
R

Loving her wildly as the day regressed towards morning


C
ge

He watched her swinging in the garden, growing younger,


w
Bare-foot, straw-hatted.
ie
id

ev
br

And when she was gone and the house and the swing and daylight
am

-R

There was an instant’s pause before it began all over,


The reel unrolling towards the river.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

The Three Fates – in Greek myth, the three sisters who drew, spun, and cut the threads
ev
br

of our birth, life, and death


reel – spindle of thread
am

-R
-C

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Elegy for Drowned Children

y
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Bruce Dawe
R

C
ge

w
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id

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What does he do with them all, the old king:


Having such a shining haul of boys in his sure net,
am

-R
How does he keep them happy, lead them to forget
-C

The world above, the aching air, birds, spring?

s
es
y

Tender and solicitous must be his care


Pr
op

For these whom he takes down into his kingdom one by one
ity
C

– Why else would they be taken out of the sweet sun,


Drowning towards him, water plaiting their hair?
rs
w
ie

ve

y
Unless he loved them deeply how could he withstand
ev

op
ni

The voices of parents calling, calling like birds by the water’s edge,
R

By swimming-pool, sand-bar, river-bank, rocky ledge,


C
ge

The little heaps of clothes, the futures carefully planned?


w
ie
id

Yet even an old acquisitive king must feel


ev
br

Remorse poisoning his joy, since he allows


am

-R

Particular boys each evening to arouse


From leaden-lidded sleep, softly to steal
-C

s
es

Away to the whispering shore, there to plunge in,


y

Pr
op

And fluid as porpoises swim upward, upward through the dividing


Waters until, soon, each back home is striding
ity
C

Over thresholds of welcome dream with wet and moonlit skin.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

sand-bar – sand bank


am

-R
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The Voice

y
ev

op
ni
Thomas Hardy
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me,


Saying that now you are not as you were
am

-R
When you had changed from the one who was all to me,
-C

But as at first, when our day was fair.

s
es
y

Can it be you that I hear? Let me view you, then,


Pr
op

Standing as when I drew near to the town


ity
C

Where you would wait for me: yes, as I knew you then,
Even to the original air-blue gown!
rs
w
ie

ve

y
Or is it only the breeze, in its listlessness
ev

op
ni

Travelling across the wet mead to me here,


R

You being ever dissolved to wan wistlessness,


C
ge

Heard no more again far or near?


w
ie
id

Thus I; faltering forward,


ev
br

Leaves around me falling,


am

-R

Wind oozing thin through the thorn from norward,


And the woman calling.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
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ie

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y
ev

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ni
R

C
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w
ie
id

mead – field, meadow


ev
br

wistlessness – inattentiveness
norward – northern parts
am

-R
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Time

y
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Allen Curnow
R

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ge

w
ie
id

ev
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I am the nor’west air nosing among the pines


I am the water-race and the rust on railway lines
am

-R
I am the mileage recorded on the yellow signs.
-C

s
es
I am dust, I am distance, I am lupins back of the beach
y

I am the sums the sole-charge teachers teach


Pr
op

I am cows called to milking and the magpie’s screech.


ity
C

I am nine o’clock in the morning when the office is clean


rs
w

I am the slap of the belting and the smell of the machine


ie

ve

y
I am the place in the park where the lovers were seen.
ev

op
ni
R

I am recurrent music the children hear


C
ge

I am level noises in the remembering ear


w
I am the sawmill and the passionate second gear.
ie
id

ev
br

I, Time, am all these, yet these exist


am

-R

Among my mountainous fabrics like a mist,


So do they the measurable world resist.
-C

s
es

I, Time, call down, condense, confer


y

Pr
op

On the willing memory the shapes these were:


I, more than your conscious carrier,
ity
C

rs
w

Am island, am sea, am father, farm, and friend,


ie

ve

Though I am here all things my coming attend;


y
ev

I am, you have heard it, the Beginning and the End.
op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

lupins – type of garden flower


am

-R
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Dover Beach

y
ev

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Matthew Arnold
R

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w
ie
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ev
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The sea is calm to-night.


The tide is full, the moon lies fair
am

-R
Upon the straits; – on the French coast the light
-C

Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,

s
es
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
y

Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!


Pr
op

Only, from the long line of spray


ity

Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,


C

Listen! you hear the grating roar


rs
w

Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,


ie

ve

y
At their return, up the high strand,
ev

op
ni

Begin, and cease, and then again begin,


R

With tremulous cadence slow, and bring


C
ge

The eternal note of sadness in.


w
ie
id

Sophocles long ago


ev
br

Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought


am

-R

Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow


Of human misery: we
-C

Find also in the sound a thought,


es

Hearing it by this distant northern sea.


y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

strand – beach
R

tremulous – quivering
ge

cadence – rhythm
ie
id

Sophocles – Ancient Greek tragedian


ev
br

Aegean – i.e. the Aegean Sea (east of Greece)


am

turbid – muddy, unclear, confused


-R
-C

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The Sea of Faith
y Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore

Pr
op
Lay like folds of a bright girdle furled.

ity
But now I only hear
C

Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,

rs
w

Retreating, to the breath


ie

ve
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear

y
ev

op
ni
And naked shingles of the world.
R

C
ge
Ah, love, let us be true

w
To one another! for the world, which seems

ie
id

To lie before us like a land of dreams,

ev
br

So various, so beautiful, so new,


am

-R
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
-C

s
And we are here as on a darkling plain

es
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
y

Pr
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
op

ity
C

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y
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R

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am

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R

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darkling – shadowy, obscure, dark


am

-R
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Amends

y
ev

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ni
Adrienne Rich
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Nights like this: on the cold apple-bough


a white star, then another
am

-R
exploding out of the bark:
-C

on the ground, moonlight picking at small stones

s
es
y

as it picks at greater stones, as it rises with the surf


Pr
op

laying its cheek for moments on the sand


ity
C

as it licks the broken ledge, as it flows up the cliffs,


as it flicks across the tracks
rs
w
ie

ve

y
as it unavailing pours into the gash
ev

op
ni

of the sand-and-gravel quarry


R

as it leans across the hangared fuselage


C
ge

of the crop-dusting plane


w
ie
id

as it soaks through cracks into the trailers


ev
br

tremulous with sleep


am

-R

as it dwells upon the eyelids of the sleepers


as if to make amends
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

hangared – inside a hangar


ev
br

fuselage – the body of an aeroplane


tremulous – quivering
am

-R
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Full Moon and Little Frieda

y
ev

op
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Ted Hughes
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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A cool small evening shrunk to a dog bark and the clank


of a bucket –
am

-R
-C

And you listening.

s
es
A spider’s web, tense for the dew’s touch.
y

A pail lifted, still and brimming – mirror


Pr
op

To tempt a first star to a tremor.


ity
C

Cows are going home in the lane there, looping the


rs
w

hedges with their warm wreaths of breath –


ie

ve

y
A dark river of blood, many boulders,
ev

op
ni

Balancing unspilled milk.


R

C
ge

‘Moon!’ you cry suddenly, ‘Moon! Moon!’


w
ie
id

The moon has stepped back like an artist gazing amazed


ev
br

at a work
am

-R

That points at him amazed.


-C

s
es
y

Pr
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C

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Lament

y
ev

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ni
Gillian Clarke
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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For the green turtle with her pulsing burden,


in search of the breeding-ground.
am

-R
For her eggs laid in their nest of sickness.
-C

s
es
For the cormorant in his funeral silk,
y

the veil of iridescence on the sand,


Pr
op

the shadow on the sea.


ity
C

For the ocean’s lap with its mortal stain.


rs
w

For Ahmed at the closed border.


ie

ve

For the soldier in his uniform of fire.

y
ev

op
ni
R

For the gunsmith and the armourer,


C
ge

the boy fusilier who joined for the company,


w
the farmer’s sons, in it for the music.
ie
id

ev
br

For the hook-beaked turtles,


am

-R

the dugong and the dolphin,


the whale struck dumb by the missile’s thunder.
-C

s
es

For the tern, the gull and the restless wader,


y

Pr

the long migrations and the slow dying,


op

the veiled sun and the stink of anger.


ity
C

rs
w

For the burnt earth and the sun put out,


ie

ve

the scalded ocean and the blazing well.


y
ev

For vengeance, and the ashes of language.


op
ni
R

C
ge

cormorant . . . tern . . . gull . . . wader – types of seabirds


ie
id

iridescence – a surface of shimmering colours


ev
br

fusilier – rifleman
am

dugong – large aquatic mammal


-R
-C

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ity
C

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On The Grasshopper and The Cricket

y
ev

op
ni
John Keats
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

The poetry of earth is never dead:


When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
am

-R
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
-C

From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;

s
es
That is the grasshopper’s – he takes the lead
y

In summer luxury, – he has never done


Pr
op

With his delights; for when tired out with fun


ity
C

He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.


The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
rs
w

On a lone winter evening, when the frost


ie

ve

y
Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills
ev

op
ni

The cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever,


R

And seems to one in drowsiness half lost,


C
ge

The grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.


w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

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y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
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ie

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y
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R

C
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w
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mead – meadow
am

-R
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The Flower-Fed Buffaloes

y
ev

op
ni
Vachel Lindsay
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring


In the days of long ago,
am

-R
Ranged where the locomotives sing
-C

And the prairie flowers lie low:–

s
es
The tossing, blooming, perfumed grass
y

Is swept away by the wheat,


Pr
op

Wheels and wheels and wheels spin by


ity

In the spring that still is sweet.


C

But the flower-fed buffaloes of the spring


rs
w

Left us, long ago.


ie

ve

They gore no more, they bellow no more,

y
ev

op
ni

They trundle around the hills no more:–


R

With the Blackfeet, lying low,


C
ge

With the Pawnees, lying low,


w
Lying low.
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Blackfeet . . . Pawnees – Native American tribes


am

-R
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Report To Wordsworth

y
ev

op
ni
Boey Kim Cheng
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

You should be here, Nature has need of you.


She has been laid waste. Smothered by the smog,
am

-R
the flowers are mute, and the birds are few
-C

in a sky slowing like a dying clock.

s
es
All hopes of Proteus rising from the sea
y

have sunk; he is entombed in the waste


Pr
op

we dump. Triton’s notes struggle to be free,


ity

his famous horns are choked, his eyes are dazed,


C

and Neptune lies helpless as a beached whale,


rs
w

while insatiate man moves in for the kill.


ie

ve

Poetry and piety have begun to fail,

y
ev

op
ni

as Nature’s mighty heart is lying still.


R

O see the wound widening in the sky,


C
ge

God is labouring to utter his last cry.


w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

Wordsworth – i.e. the English nature-poet William Wordsworth (1770–1850)


ge

Proteus – (Greek mythology) a shape-changing sea-god


w

Triton – (Greek mythology) a sea-god that used shells as wind instruments


ie
id

Neptune – the Roman god of the sea


ev
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insatiate – never satisfied


am

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First Love

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John Clare
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I ne’er was struck before that hour


With love so sudden and so sweet
am

-R
Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower
-C

And stole my heart away complete

s
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My face turned pale a deadly pale
y

My legs refused to walk away


Pr
op

And when she looked what could I ail


ity

My life and all seemed turned to clay


C

rs
w

And then my blood rushed to my face


ie

ve

And took my eyesight quite away

y
ev

op
ni

The trees and bushes round the place


R

Seemed midnight at noon day


C
ge

I could not see a single thing


w
Words from my eyes did start
ie
id

They spoke as chords do from the string


ev
br

And blood burnt round my heart


am

-R

Are flowers the winters choice


-C

Is love’s bed always snow


es

She seemed to hear my silent voice


y

Pr

Not loves appeals to know


op

I never saw so sweet a face


ity
C

As that I stood before


rs
w

My heart has left its dwelling place


ie

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And can return no more –


y
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what could I ail – what could be wrong


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Marrysong

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Dennis Scott
R

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w
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He never learned her, quite. Year after year


that territory, without seasons, shifted
am

-R
under his eye. An hour he could be lost
-C

in the walled anger of her quarried hurt

s
es
on turning, see cool water laughing where
y

the day before there were stones in her voice.


Pr
op

He charted. She made wilderness again.


ity
C

Roads disappeared. The map was never true.


Wind brought him rain sometimes, tasting of sea –
rs
w

and suddenly she would change the shape of shores


ie

ve

y
faultlessly calm. All, all was each day new:
ev

op
ni

the shadows of her love shortened or grew


R

like trees seen from an unexpected hill,


C
ge

new country at each jaunty helpless journey.


w
So he accepted that geography, constantly strange.
ie
id

Wondered. Stayed home increasingly to find


ev
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his way among the landscapes of her mind.


am

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charted – mapped
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So, We’ll Go No More A-Roving

y
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George Gordon, Lord Byron
R

C
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w
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So, we’ll go no more a-roving


So late into the night,
am

-R
Though the heart be still as loving,
-C

And the moon be still as bright.

s
es
y

For the sword outwears its sheath,


Pr
op

And the soul wears out the breast,


ity
C

And the heart must pause to breathe,


And love itself have rest.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
Though the night was made for loving,
ev

op
ni

And the day returns too soon,


R

Yet we’ll go no more a-roving


C
ge

By the light of the moon.


w
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am

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Sonnet 43

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Elizabeth Barrett Browning
R

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How do I love thee? Let me count the ways! –


I love thee to the depth & breadth & height
am

-R
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
-C

For the ends of Being and Ideal Grace.

s
es
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
y

Most quiet need, by sun & candlelight –


Pr
op

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right, –


ity
C

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise;


I love thee with the passion, put to use
rs
w

In my old griefs, . . and with my childhood’s faith:


ie

ve

y
I love thee with the love I seemed to lose
ev

op
ni

With my lost Saints, – I love thee with the breath,


R

Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose,


C
ge

I shall but love thee better after death.


w
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am

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Sonnet 29

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Edna St Vincent Millay
R

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Pity me not because the light of day


At close of day no longer walks the sky;
am

-R
Pity me not for beauties passed away
-C

From field to thicket as the year goes by;

s
es
Pity me not the waning of the moon,
y

Nor that the ebbing tide goes out to sea,


Pr
op

Nor that a man’s desire is hushed so soon,


ity
C

And you no longer look with love on me.


This have I known always: Love is no more
rs
w

Than the wide blossom which the wind assails,


ie

ve

y
Than the great tide that treads the shifting shore,
ev

op
ni

Strewing fresh wreckage gathered in the gales:


R

Pity me that the heart is slow to learn


C
ge

What the swift mind beholds at every turn.


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R R R
ev ev ev
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C C C
op op op
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am am am am
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id id id id
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U U U
ni ni ni
ve ve ve
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ity ity ity
Part 4
Pr Pr Pr
es es es es
s s s s
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ev ev ev ev
Poems from the Nineteenth
ie ie and Twentieth Centuries (II) ie ie
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C C C
op op op
y y y
R R R
ev ev ev
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w w w
C C C
op op op
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am am am am
br br br br
id id id id
ge ge ge
U U U
ni ni ni
ve ve ve
rs rs rs
ity ity ity
Pr Pr Pr
es es es es
s s s s
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ev ev ev ev
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A Different History

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Sujata Bhatt
R

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Great Pan is not dead;


he simply emigrated
am

-R
to India.
-C

Here, the gods roam freely,

s
es
disguised as snakes or monkeys;
y

every tree is sacred


Pr
op

and it is a sin
ity
C

to be rude to a book.
It is a sin to shove a book aside
rs
w

with your foot,


ie

ve

y
a sin to slam books down
ev

op
ni

hard on a table,
R

a sin to toss one carelessly


C
ge

across a room.
w
You must learn how to turn the pages gently
ie
id

without disturbing Sarasvati,


ev
br

without offending the tree


am

-R

from whose wood the paper was made.


-C

Which language
s
es

has not been the oppressor’s tongue?


y

Which language
Pr
op

truly meant to murder someone?


ity
C

And how does it happen


that after the torture,
rs
w

after the soul has been cropped


ie

ve

with a long scythe swooping out


ev

op
ni

of the conqueror’s face –


R

the unborn grandchildren


C
ge

grow to love that strange language.


w
ie
id

ev
br

Pan – the Ancient Greek god of nature, part-man, part-goat


am

-R

Sarasvati – the Hindu goddess of the arts


-C

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Pied Beauty

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Gerard Manley Hopkins
R

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Glory be to God for dappled things –


For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
am

-R
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
-C

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

s
es
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
y

And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.


Pr
op

All things counter, original, spare, strange;


ity

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)


C

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;


rs
w

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:


ie

ve

Praise him.

y
ev

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ni
R

C
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am

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Pr
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y
ev

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R

pied . . . dappled . . . couple-colour – of different shades of colour; two-tone


ge

brinded – streaked with different colours


ie
id

fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls – falling chestnuts as bright as glowing coals


ev
br

counter – opposite, duplicate


fathers-forth – creates, engenders
am

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Continuum

y
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Allen Curnow
R

C
ge

w
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id

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The moon rolls over the roof and falls behind


my house, and the moon does neither of these things,
am

-R
I am talking about myself.
-C

s
es
It’s not possible to get off to sleep or
y

the subject or the planet, nor to think thoughts.


Pr
op

Better barefoot it out the front


ity
C

door and lean from the porch across the privets


rs
w

and the palms into the washed-out creation,


ie

ve

a dark place with two particular

y
ev

op
ni
R

bright clouds dusted (query) by the moon, one’s mine


C
ge

the other’s an adversary, which may depend


w
on the wind, or something.
ie
id

ev
br

A long moment stretches, the next one is not


am

-R

on time. Not unaccountably the chill of


the planking underfoot rises
-C

s
es

in the throat, for its part the night sky empties


y

Pr

the whole of its contents down. Turn on a bare


op

heel, close the door behind


ity
C

rs
w

on the author, cringing demiurge, who picks up


ie

ve

his litter and his tools and paces me back


y
ev

to bed, stealthily in step.


op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

continuum – that which extends continuously


ev

privets – hedges
br

demiurge – creator
am

-R
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Horses

y
ev

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Edwin Muir
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Those lumbering horses in the steady plough,


On the bare field – I wonder why, just now,
am

-R
They seemed terrible, so wild and strange,
-C

Like magic power on the stony grange.

s
es
y

Perhaps some childish hour has come again,


Pr
op

When I watched fearful, through the blackening rain,


ity
C

Their hooves like pistons in an ancient mill


Move up and down, yet seem as standing still.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
Their conquering hooves which trod the stubble down
ev

op
ni

Were ritual that turned the field to brown,


R

And their great hulks were seraphim of gold,


C
ge

Or mute ecstatic monsters on the mould.


w
ie
id

And oh the rapture, when, one furrow done,


ev
br

They marched broad-breasted to the sinking sun!


am

-R

The light flowed off their bossy sides in flakes;


The furrows rolled behind like struggling snakes.
-C

s
es

But when at dusk with steaming nostrils home


y

Pr
op

They came, they seemed gigantic in the gloam,


And warm and glowing with mysterious fire
ity
C

That lit their smouldering bodies in the mire.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

grange – farmhouse
C

seraphim – angels
ge

mould – ground
ie
id

bossy – swelling
ev
br

gloam – dusk
mire – mud
am

-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 165

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Their eyes as brilliant and as wide as night
y Gleamed with a cruel apocalyptic light.

Pr
op
Their manes the leaping ire of the wind

ity
Lifted with rage invisible and blind.
C

rs
w

Ah, now it fades! It fades! and I must pine


ie

ve
Again for that dread country crystalline,

y
ev

op
ni
Where the black field and the still-standing tree
R

U
Were bright and fearful presences to me.

C
ge

w
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am

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Pr
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Pr
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crystalline – as if made of crystal


am

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Hunting Snake

y
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Judith Wright
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Sun-warmed in this late season’s grace


under the autumn’s gentlest sky
am

-R
we walked, and froze half-through a pace.
-C

The great black snake went reeling by.

s
es
y

Head-down, tongue flickering on the trail


Pr
op

he quested through the parting grass;


ity

sun glazed his curves of diamond scale,


C

and we lost breath to watch him pass.


rs
w
ie

ve

What track he followed, what small food

y
ev

op
ni

fled living from his fierce intent,


R

we scarcely thought; still as we stood


C
ge

our eyes went with him as he went.


w
ie
id

Cold, dark and splendid he was gone


ev
br

into the grass that hid his prey.


am

-R

We took a deeper breath of day,


looked at each other, and went on.
-C

s
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Pr
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C

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Pike

y
ev

op
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Ted Hughes
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Pike, three inches long, perfect


Pike in all parts, green tigering the gold.
am

-R
Killers from the egg: the malevolent aged grin.
-C

They dance on the surface among the flies.

s
es
y

Or move, stunned by their own grandeur


Pr
op

Over a bed of emerald, silhouette


ity
C

Of submarine delicacy and horror.


A hundred feet long in their world.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
In ponds, under the heat-struck lily pads –
ev

op
ni

Gloom of their stillness:


R

Logged on last year’s black leaves, watching upwards.


C
ge

Or hung in an amber cavern of weeds


w
ie
id

The jaws’ hooked clamp and fangs


ev
br

Not to be changed at this date;


am

-R

A life subdued to its instrument;


The gills kneading quietly, and the pectorals.
-C

s
es

Three we kept behind glass,


y

Pr
op

Jungled in weed: three inches, four,


And four and a half: fed fry to them –
ity
C

Suddenly there were two. Finally one.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

pike – large, predatory freshwater fish


ie

tigering – i.e. making stripes like a tiger’s skin


id

pectorals – lateral fins


ev
br

fry – newly hatched fish


am

-R
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With a sag belly and the grin it was born with.
y And indeed they spare nobody.

Pr
op
Two, six pounds each, over two feet long,

ity
High and dry and dead in the willow-herb –
C

rs
w

One jammed past its gills down the other’s gullet:


ie

ve
The outside eye stared: as a vice locks –

y
ev

op
ni
The same iron in this eye
R

U
Though its film shrank in death.

C
ge

w
A pond I fished, fifty yards across,

ie
id

Whose lilies and muscular tench

ev
br

Had outlasted every visible stone


am

-R
Of the monastery that planted them –
-C

s
Stilled legendary depth:

es
It was as deep as England. It held
y

Pr
Pike too immense to stir, so immense and old
op

That past nightfall I dared not cast


ity
C

rs
w

But silently cast and fished


ie

ve

With the hair frozen on my head

y
ev

For what might move, for what eye might move.

op
ni

The still splashes on the dark pond,


R

C
ge

w
Owls hushing the floating woods
ie
id

Frail on my ear against the dream


ev
br

Darkness beneath night’s darkness had freed,


am

That rose slowly towards me, watching.


-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

willow-herb – yellow loosestrife, a wild plant


ie

film – the eye’s surface


id

tench – freshwater fish


ev
br

cast – flick the line of a fishing-rod


am

-R
-C

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A Birthday

y
ev

op
ni
Christina Rossetti
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

My heart is like a singing bird


Whose nest is in a watered shoot;
am

-R
My heart is like an apple-tree
-C

Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;

s
es
My heart is like a rainbow shell
y

That paddles in a halcyon sea;


Pr
op

My heart is gladder than all these


ity
C

Because my love is come to me.


rs
w

Raise me a dais of silk and down;


ie

ve

y
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
ev

op
ni

Carve it in doves and pomegranates,


R

And peacocks with a hundred eyes;


C
ge

Work it in gold and silver grapes,


w
In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;
ie
id

Because the birthday of my life


ev
br

Is come, my love is come to me.


am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

halcyon – idyllic, calm


C

dais – platform
ge

down – soft feathers


ie
id

vair – squirrel fur


ev
br

eyes – i.e. the circles in a peacock’s tail


fleurs-de-lys – three-petalled flowers
am

-R
-C

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The Woodspurge

y
ev

op
ni
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

The wind flapped loose, the wind was still,


Shaken out dead from tree and hill:
am

-R
I had walked on at the wind’s will, –
-C

I sat now, for the wind was still.

s
es
y

Between my knees my forehead was, –


Pr
op

My lips, drawn in, said not Alas!


ity
C

My hair was over in the grass,


My naked ears heard the day pass.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
My eyes, wide open, had the run
ev

op
ni

Of some ten weeds to fix upon;


R

Among those few, out of the sun,


C
ge

The woodspurge flowered, three cups in one.


w
ie
id

From perfect grief there need not be


ev
br

Wisdom or even memory:


am

-R

One thing then learnt remains to me, –


The woodspurge has a cup of three.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

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ie

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y
ev

op
ni
R

C
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w
ie
id

ev

at the wind’s will – wherever the wind blew me


br

woodspurge – a wild plant, whose flowers form in groups of three from a cup-like stem
am

-R
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The Cockroach

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ev

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ni
Kevin Halligan
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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br

I watched a giant cockroach start to pace,


Skirting a ball of dust that rode the floor.
am

-R
At first he seemed quite satisfied to trace
-C

A path between the wainscot and the door,

s
es
But soon he turned to jog in crooked rings,
y

Circling the rusty table leg and back,


Pr
op

And flipping right over to scratch his wings –


ity
C

As if the victim of a mild attack


Of restlessness that worsened over time.
rs
w

After a while, he climbed an open shelf


ie

ve

y
And stopped. He looked uncertain where to go.
ev

op
ni

Was this due payment for some vicious crime


R

A former life had led to? I don’t know,


C
ge

Except I thought I recognised myself.


w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

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ge

w
ie
id

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br

skirting – avoiding by a detour


wainscot – panelling
am

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The City Planners

y
ev

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ni
Margaret Atwood
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Cruising these residential Sunday


streets in dry August sunlight:
am

-R
what offends us is
-C

the sanities:

s
es
the houses in pedantic rows, the planted
y

sanitary trees, assert Pr


op

levelness of surface like a rebuke


ity

to the dent in our car door.


C

No shouting here, or
rs
w

shatter of glass; nothing more abrupt


ie

ve

than the rational whine of a power mower

y
ev

op
ni

cutting a straight swath in the discouraged grass.


R

C
ge

But though the driveways neatly


w
sidestep hysteria
ie
id

by being even, the roofs all display


ev
br

the same slant of avoidance to the hot sky,


am

-R

certain things:
the smell of spilt oil a faint
-C

sickness lingering in the garages,


es

a splash of paint on brick surprising as a bruise,


y

Pr

a plastic hose poised in a vicious


op

coil; even the too-fixed stare of the wide windows


ity
C

rs
w

give momentary access to


ie

ve

the landscape behind or under


y
ev

the future cracks in the plaster


op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

sanities – sanity = the condition of mental health


swath – track, row
am

-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 173

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s
es
when the houses, capsized, will slide
y obliquely into the clay seas, gradual as glaciers

Pr
op
that right now nobody notices.

ity
C

That is where the City Planners

rs
w

with the insane faces of political conspirators


ie

ve
are scattered over unsurveyed

y
ev

op
ni
territories, concealed from each other,
R

U
each in his own private blizzard;

C
ge

w
guessing directions, they sketch

ie
id

transitory lines rigid as wooden borders

ev
br

on a wall in the white vanishing air


am

-R
tracing the panic of suburb
-C

s
order in a bland madness of snows.

es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

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y
ev

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am

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174 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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The Planners

y
ev

op
ni
Boey Kim Cheng
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

They plan. They build. All spaces are gridded,


filled with permutations of possibilities.
am

-R
The buildings are in alignment with the roads
-C

which meet at desired points

s
es
linked by bridges all hang
y

in the grace of mathematics.


Pr
op

They build and will not stop.


ity
C

Even the sea draws back


and the skies surrender.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
They erase the flaws,
ev

op
ni

the blemishes of the past, knock off


R

useless blocks with dental dexterity.


C
ge

All gaps are plugged


w
with gleaming gold.
ie
id

The country wears perfect rows


ev
br

of shining teeth.
am

-R

Anaesthesia, amnesia, hypnosis.


They have the means.
-C

They have it all so it will not hurt,


es

so history is new again.


y

Pr
op

The piling will not stop.


The drilling goes right through
ity
C

the fossils of last century.


rs
w
ie

ve

But my heart would not bleed


y
ev

poetry. Not a single drop


op
ni
R

to stain the blueprint


U

of our past’s tomorrow.


ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

piling – building foundations


am

blueprint – architectural plan


-R
-C

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 175

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ie

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Summer Farm

y
ev

op
ni
Norman Maccaig
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Straws like tame lightnings lie about the grass


And hang zigzag on hedges. Green as glass
am

-R
The water in the horse-trough shines.
-C

Nine ducks go wobbling by in two straight lines.

s
es
y

A hen stares at nothing with one eye,


Pr
op

Then picks it up. Out of an empty sky


ity

A swallow falls and, flickering through


C

The barn, dives up again into the dizzy blue.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
I lie, not thinking, in the cool, soft grass,
ev

op
ni

Afraid of where a thought might take me – as


R

This grasshopper with plated face


C
ge

Unfolds his legs and finds himself in space.


w
ie
id

Self under self, a pile of selves I stand


ev
br

Threaded on time, and with metaphysic hand


am

-R

Lift the farm like a lid and see


Farm within farm, and in the centre, me.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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plated – i.e. as if comprising sections of metal plate


metaphysic – concerned with the nature of abstract or transcendent truth
am

-R
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Where I Come From

y
ev

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ni
Elizabeth Brewster
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
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People are made of places. They carry with them


hints of jungles or mountains, a tropic grace
am

-R
or the cool eyes of sea-gazers. Atmosphere of cities
-C

how different drops from them, like the smell of smog

s
es
or the almost-not-smell of tulips in the spring,
y

nature tidily plotted in little squares


Pr
op

with a fountain in the centre; museum smell,


ity
C

art also tidily plotted with a guidebook;


or the smell of work, glue factories maybe,
rs
w

chromium-plated offices; smell of subways


ie

ve

y
crowded at rush hours.
ev

op
ni
R

Where I come from, people


C
ge

carry woods in their minds, acres of pine woods;


w
blueberry patches in the burned-out bush;
ie
id

wooden farmhouses, old, in need of paint,


ev
br

with yards where hens and chickens circle about,


am

-R

clucking aimlessly; battered schoolhouses


behind which violets grow. Spring and winter
-C

are the mind’s chief seasons: ice and the breaking of ice.
es
y

Pr
op

A door in the mind blows open, and there blows


a frosty wind from fields of snow.
ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

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ni
R

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 177

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ity
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Sonnet: Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

y
ev

op
ni
William Wordsworth
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Earth has not anything to show more fair:


Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
am

-R
A sight so touching in its majesty:
-C

This City now doth like a garment wear

s
es
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
y

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie


Pr
op

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;


ity

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.


C

Never did sun more beautifully steep


rs
w

In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;


ie

ve

y
Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
ev

op
ni

The river glideth at his own sweet will:


R

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;


C
ge

And all that mighty heart is lying still!


w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

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es
y

Pr
op

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C

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w
ie

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y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Westminster Bridge – i.e. across the River Thames in London


ev

steep – bathe (in light)


br

glideth – glides
am

-R
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ity
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The Bay

y
ev

op
ni
James K. Baxter
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

On the road to the bay was a lake of rushes


Where we bathed at times and changed in the bamboos.
am

-R
Now it is rather to stand and say:
-C

How many roads we take that lead to Nowhere,

s
es
The alley overgrown, no meaning now but loss:
y

Not that veritable garden where everything comes easy.


Pr
op

ity
C

And by the bay itself were cliffs with carved names


And a hut on the shore beside the Maori ovens.
rs
w

We raced boats from the banks of the pumice creek


ie

ve

y
Or swam in those autumnal shallows
ev

op
ni

Growing cold in amber water, riding the logs


R

Upstream, and waiting for the taniwha.


C
ge

w
So now I remember the bay and the little spiders
ie
id

On driftwood, so poisonous and quick.


ev
br

The carved cliffs and the great outcrying surf


am

-R

With currents round the rocks and the birds rising.


A thousand times an hour is torn across
-C

And burned for the sake of going on living.


es

But I remember the bay that never was


y

Pr
op

And stand like stone and cannot turn away.


ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

taniwha – a sea monster in Maori mythology


am

-R
-C

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125

ity
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Where Lies the Land?

y
ev

op
ni
Arthur Hugh Clough
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Where lies the land to which the ship would go?


Far, far ahead, is all her seamen know.
am

-R
And where the land she travels from? Away,
-C

Far, far behind, is all that they can say.

s
es
y

On sunny noons upon the deck’s smooth face,


Pr
op

Linked arm in arm, how pleasant here to pace!


ity

Or, o’er the stern reclining, watch below


C

The foaming wake far widening as we go.


rs
w
ie

ve

On stormy nights when wild north-westers rave,

y
ev

op
ni

How proud a thing to fight with wind and wave!


R

The dripping sailor on the reeling mast


C
ge

Exults to bear and scorns to wish it past.


w
ie
id

Where lies the land to which the ship would go?


ev
br

Far, far ahead, is all her seamen know.


am

-R

And where the land she travels from? Away,


Far, far behind, is all that they can say.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

stern – the rear part of a ship


ie
id

wake – the trace left in the sea by a ship’s passage


ev
br

north-westers – violent gales


exults to – relishes the opportunity to
am

-R
-C

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126

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Morse

y
ev

op
ni
Les Murray
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Tuckett. Bill Tuckett. Telegraph operator, Hall’s Creek,


which is way out back of the Outback, but he stuck it,
am

-R
quite likely liked it, despite heat, glare, dust and the lack
-C

of diversion or doctors. Come disaster you trusted to luck,

s
es
ingenuity and pluck. This was back when nice people said pluck,
y

the sleevelink and green eyeshade epoch.Pr


op

Faced, though, like Bill Tuckett


ity

with a man needing surgery right on the spot, a lot


C

would have done their dashes. It looked hopeless (dot dot dot)
rs
w

Lift him up on the table, said Tuckett, running the key hot
ie

ve

till Head Office turned up a doctor who coolly instructed

y
ev

op
ni

up a thousand miles of wire, as Tuckett advanced slit by slit


R

with a safety razor blade, pioneering on into the wet,


C
ge

copper-wiring the rivers off, in the first operation conducted


w
along dotted lines, with rum drinkers gripping the patient:
ie
id

d-d-dash it, take care, Tuck!


ev
br

And the vital spark stayed unshorted.


am

-R

Yallah! Breathed the camelmen. Tuckett, you did it, you did it!
cried the spattered la-de-dah jodhpur-wearing Inspector of Stock.
-C

We imagine, some weeks later, a properly laconic


es

convalescent averring Without you, I’d have kicked the bucket . . .


y

Pr
op

From Chungking to Burrenjuck, morse keys have mostly gone silent


ity
C

and only old men meet now to chit-chat in their electric


rs
w

bygone dialect. The last letter many will forget


ie

ve

is dit-dit-dit-dah, V for Victory. The coders’ hero had speed,


y
ev

resource and a touch. So ditditdit daah for Bill Tuckett.


op
ni
R

C
ge

Morse – the system of electric communication, invented by Samuel Morse, by which the letters of the
ie
id

alphabet were rendered as a series of short (‘dots’ or ‘dit’) or long (‘dashes’ or ‘dah’) transmissions
ev

Outback – the Australian interior


br

unshorted – with no short-circuits


am

-R

la-de-dah – using affectedly upper-class speech and manners


-C

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127

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The Man with Night Sweats

y
ev

op
ni
Thom Gunn
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

I wake up cold, I who


Prospered through dreams of heat
am

-R
Wake to their residue,
-C

Sweat, and a clinging sheet.

s
es
y

My flesh was its own shield:


Pr
op

Where it was gashed, it healed.


ity
C

I grew as I explored
rs
w

The body I could trust


ie

ve

y
Even while I adored
ev

op
ni

The risk that made robust,


R

C
ge

A world of wonders in
w
Each challenge to the skin.
ie
id

ev
br

I cannot but be sorry


am

-R

The given shield was cracked


My mind reduced to hurry,
-C

My flesh reduced and wrecked.


es
y

Pr
op

I have to change the bed,


But catch myself instead
ity
C

rs
w

Stopped upright where I am


ie

ve

Hugging my body to me
y
ev

As if to shield it from
op
ni
R

The pains that will go through me,


U

C
ge

As if hands were enough


ie
id

To hold an avalanche off.


ev
br
am

-R
-C

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Night Sweat

y
ev

op
ni
Robert Lowell
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Work-table, litter, books and standing lamp,


plain things, my stalled equipment, the old broom –
am

-R
but I am living in a tidied room,
-C

for ten nights now I’ve felt the creeping damp

s
es
float over my pajamas’ wilted white . . .
y

Sweet salt embalms me and my head is wet,


Pr
op

everything streams and tells me this is right;


ity
C

my life’s fever is soaking in night sweat –


one life, one writing! But the downward glide
rs
w

and bias of existing wrings us dry –


ie

ve

y
always inside me is the child who died,
ev

op
ni

always inside me is his will to die –


R

one universe, one body . . . in this urn


C
ge

the animal night sweats of the spirit burn.


w
Behind me! You! Again I feel the light
ie
id

lighten my leaded eyelids, while the gray


ev
br

skulled horses whinny for the soot of night.


am

-R

I dabble in the dapple of the day,


a heap of wet clothes, seamy, shivering,
-C

I see my flesh and bedding washed with light,


es

my child exploding into dynamite,


y

Pr
op

my wife . . . your lightness alters everything,


and tears the black web from the spider’s sack,
ity
C

as your heart hops and flutters like a hare.


rs
w

Poor turtle, tortoise, if I cannot clear


ie

ve

the surface of these troubled waters here,


y
ev

absolve me, help me, Dear Heart, as you bear


op
ni
R

this world’s dead weight and cycle on your back.


U

C
ge

w
ie
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am

-R
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-C

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Rain

y
ev

op
ni
Edward Thomas
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Rain, midnight rain, nothing but the wild rain


On this bleak hut, and solitude, and me
am

-R
Remembering again that I shall die
-C

And neither hear the rain nor give it thanks

s
es
For washing me cleaner than I have been
y

Since I was born into this solitude.


Pr
op

Blessed are the dead that the rain rains upon:


ity
C

But here I pray that none whom once I loved


Is dying to-night or lying still awake
rs
w

Solitary, listening to the rain,


ie

ve

y
Either in pain or thus in sympathy
ev

op
ni

Helpless among the living and the dead,


R

Like a cold water among broken reeds,


C
ge

Myriads of broken reeds all still and stiff,


w
Like me who have no love which this wild rain
ie
id

Has not dissolved except the love of death,


ev
br

If love it be for what is perfect and


am

-R

Cannot, the tempest tells me, disappoint.


-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

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R

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184 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Any Soul to Any Body

y
ev

op
ni
Cosmo Monkhouse
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

So we must part, my body, you and I


Who’ve spent so many pleasant years together.
am

-R
’Tis sorry work to lose your company
-C

Who clove to me so close, whate’er the weather,

s
es
From winter unto winter, wet or dry;
y

But you have reached the limit of your tether,


Pr
op

And I must journey on my way alone,


ity
C

And leave you quietly beneath a stone.


rs
w

They say that you are altogether bad


ie

ve

y
(Forgive me, ’tis not my experience),
ev

op
ni

And think me very wicked to be sad


R

At leaving you, a clod, a prison, whence


C
ge

To get quite free I should be very glad.


w
Perhaps I may be so, some few days hence,
ie
id

But now, methinks, ’twere graceless not to spend


ev
br

A tear or two on my departing friend.


am

-R

Now our long partnership is near completed,


-C

And I look back upon its history;


es

I greatly fear I have not always treated


y

Pr
op

You with the honesty you showed to me.


And I must own that you have oft defeated
ity
C

Unworthy schemes by your sincerity,


rs
w

And by a blush or stammering tongue have tried


ie

ve

To make me think again before I lied.


y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie

sorry work – a sad business


id

clove to – cleaved to, hugged


ev
br

clod – shapeless lump of earth (from which the body is fashioned)


am

-R
-C

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 185

-C

s
es
’Tis true you’re not so handsome as you were,
y But that’s not your fault and is partly mine.

Pr
op
You might have lasted longer with more care,

ity
And still looked something like your first design;
C

And even now, with all your wear and tear,

rs
w

’Tis pitiful to think I must resign


ie

ve
You to the friendless grave, the patient prey

y
ev

op
ni
Of all the hungry legions of Decay.
R

C
ge
But you must stay, dear body, and I go.

w
And I was once so very proud of you:

ie
id

You made my mother’s eyes to overflow

ev
br

When first she saw you, wonderful and new.


am

-R
And now, with all your faults, ’twere hard to find
A slave more willing or a friend more true.
-C

s
Ay – even they who say the worst about you

es
Can scarcely tell what I shall do without you.
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
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C
ge

w
ie
id

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br

legions – armies
am

-R
-C

s
es

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id

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186 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

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es
y

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op
131

ity
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rs
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ie

ve
The Spirit is too Blunt an Instrument

y
ev

op
ni
Anne Stevenson
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

The spirit is too blunt an instrument


to have made this baby.
am

-R
Nothing so unskilful as human passions
-C

could have managed the intricate

s
es
exacting particulars: the tiny
y

blind bones with their manipulating tendons,


Pr
op

the knee and the knucklebones, the resilient


ity

fine meshings of ganglia and vertebrae,


C

the chain of the difficult spine.


rs
w
ie

ve

Observe the distinct eyelashes and sharp crescent

y
ev

op
ni

fingernails, the shell-like complexity


R

of the ear, with its firm involutions


C
ge

concentric in miniature to minute


w
ossicles. Imagine the
ie
id

infinitesimal capillaries, the flawless connections


ev
br

of the lungs, the invisible neural filaments


am

-R

through which the completed body


already answers to the brain.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

ganglia – bunches of nerve-endings


R

involutions – curled structures


U

ossicles – small bones


ge

infinitesimal – most tiny


ie

capillaries – fine blood-vessels


id

neural – of nerves
ev
br

filaments – threads
am

-R
-C

s
es

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id

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 187

-C

s
es
Then name any passion or sentiment
y possessed of the simplest accuracy.

Pr
op
No, no desire or affection could have done

ity
with practice what habit
C

has done perfectly, indifferently,

rs
w

through the body’s ignorant precision.


ie

ve
It is left to the vagaries of the mind to invent

y
ev

op
ni
love and despair and anxiety
R

U
and their pain.

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

vagaries – capricious fluctuations


am

-R
-C

s
es

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188 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

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132

ity
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From Long Distance

y
ev

op
ni
Tony Harrison
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Though my mother was already two years dead


Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas,
am

-R
put hot water bottles her side of the bed
-C

and still went to renew her transport pass.

s
es
y

You couldn’t just drop in. You had to phone.


Pr
op

He’d put you off an hour to give him time


ity
C

to clear away her things and look alone


as though his still raw love were such a crime.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
He couldn’t risk my blight of disbelief
ev

op
ni

though sure that very soon he’d hear her key


R

scrape in the rusted lock and end his grief.


He knew she’d just popped out to get the tea.
C
ge

w
ie
id

I believe life ends with death, and that is all.


ev
br

You haven’t both gone shopping; just the same,


am

-R

in my new black leather phone book there’s your name


and the disconnected number I still call.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

the gas – i.e. the gas-fire


transport pass – (old-person’s) travel permit
am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 189

-C

s
es
y

Pr
op
133

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
From Modern Love

y
ev

op
ni
George Meredith
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

By this he knew she wept with waking eyes:


That, at his hand’s light quiver by her head,
am

-R
The strange low sobs that shook their common bed
-C

Were called into her with a sharp surprise,

s
es
And strangled mute, like little gasping snakes,
y

Dreadfully venomous to him. She lay


Pr
op

Stone-still, and the long darkness flowed away


ity
C

With muffled pulses. Then, as midnight makes


Her giant heart of Memory and Tears
rs
w

Drink the pale drug of silence, and so beat


ie

ve

y
Sleep’s heavy measure, they from head to feet
ev

op
ni

Were moveless, looking through their dead black years,


R

By vain regret scrawled over the blank wall.


C
ge

Like sculptured effigies they might be seen


w
Upon their marriage-tomb, the sword between;
ie
id

Each wishing for the sword that severs all.


ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

heavy measure – solemn rhythm


ev
br

moveless – motionless
effigies – sculpted models
am

-R
-C

s
es

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190 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Pr
op
134

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Funeral Blues

y
ev

op
ni
W.H. Auden
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,


Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
am

-R
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
-C

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

s
es
y

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead


Pr
op

Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,


ity
C

Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
rs
w
ie

ve

y
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
ev

op
ni

My working week and my Sunday rest,


R

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;


C
ge

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.


w
ie
id

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one,
ev
br

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,


am

-R

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;


For nothing now can ever come to any good.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

crêpe – thin crinkled fabric


am

-R
-C

s
es

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id

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 191

-C

s
es
y

Pr
op
135

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
La Figlia Che Piange

y
ev

op
ni
T.S. Eliot
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

O quam te memorem virgo . . .


am

-R
Stand on the highest pavement of the stair –
Lean on a garden urn –
-C

s
Weave, weave the sunlight in your hair –

es
Clasp your flowers to you with a pained surprise –
y

Pr
Fling them to the ground and turn
op

With a fugitive resentment in your eyes:


ity
C

But weave, weave the sunlight in your hair.


rs
w

So I would have had him leave,


ie

ve

So I would have had her stand and grieve,

y
ev

op
ni

So he would have left


R

As the soul leaves the body torn and bruised,


As the mind deserts the body it has used.
C
ge

w
I should find
ie
id

Some way incomparably light and deft,


ev
br

Some way we both should understand,


am

-R

Simple and faithless as a smile and shake of the hand.


-C

She turned away, but with the autumn weather


s

Compelled my imagination many days,


es

Many days and many hours:


y

Pr
op

Her hair over her arms and her arms full of flowers.
And I wonder how they should have been together!
ity
C

I should have lost a gesture and a pose.


rs
w

Sometimes these cogitations still amaze


ie

ve

The troubled midnight and the noon’s repose.


y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

La Figlia Che Piange – (Italian) the weeping girl


ie
id

O quam te memorem virgo . . . – ‘But by what name should I call thee, O maiden?’ (Latin; from
ev
br

Virgil’s Aeneid, addressed by Aeneas to his mother Venus, the goddess of love: the quotation
continues, ‘. . . for thy face is not mortal’)
am

-R
-C

s
es

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id

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am

-R
192 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
es
y

Pr
op
136

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
From Song of Myself

y
ev

op
ni
Walt Whitman
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul,


The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me,
am

-R
The first I graft and increase upon myself, the latter I translate into a new tongue.
-C

s
es
I am the poet of the woman the same as the man,
y

And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man,


Pr
op

And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men.


ity
C

I chant the chant of dilation or pride,


rs
w

We have had ducking and deprecating about enough,


ie

ve

y
I show that size is only development.
ev

op
ni
R

Have you outstript the rest? are you the President?


C
ge

It is a trifle, they will more than arrive there every one, and still pass on.
w
I am he that walks with the tender and growing night,
ie
id

I call to the earth and sea half-held by the night.


ev
br
am

-R

Press close bare-bosom’d night – press close magnetic nourishing night!


Night of south winds – night of the large few stars
-C

Still nodding night – mad naked summer night.


es
y

Pr
op

Smile O voluptuous cool-breath’d earth!


Earth of the slumbering and liquid trees!
ity
C

Earth of departed sunset – earth of the mountains misty-topped!


rs
w

Earth of the vitreous pour of the full moon just tinged with blue!
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

graft – transplant
ev

dilation – expansion
br

vitreous – glassy
am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 193

-C

s
es
Earth of shine and dark mottling the tide of the river!
y Earth of the limpid grey of clouds brighter and clearer for my sake!

Pr
op
Far-swooping elbowed earth – rich apple-blossom’d earth!

ity
Smile, for your lover comes.
C

Prodigal, you have given me love – therefore I to you give love!

rs
w

O unspeakable passionate love.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

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C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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br
am

-R
-C

s
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y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

prodigal – wastrel, reckless spendthrift


am

-R
-C

s
es

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194 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

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137

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
He Never Expected Much

y
ev

op
ni
Thomas Hardy
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Well, World, you have kept faith with me,


Kept faith with me;
am

-R
Upon the whole you have proved to be
-C

Much as you said you were.

s
es
Since as a child I used to lie
y

Upon the leaze and watch the sky,


Pr
op

Never, I own, expected I


ity
C

That life would all be fair.


rs
w

’Twas then you said, and since have said,


ie

ve

Times since have said,

y
ev

In that mysterious voice you shed

op
ni

From clouds and hills around:


R

C
‘Many have loved me desperately,
ge

w
Many with smooth serenity,
ie
id

While some have shown contempt of me


ev
br

Till they dropped underground.


am

-R

‘I do not promise overmuch,


Child; overmuch;
-C

Just neutral-tinted haps and such,’


es

You said to minds like mine.


y

Pr

Wise warning for your credit’s sake!


op

Which I for one failed not to take,


ity
C

And hence could stem such strain and ache


rs
w

As each year might assign.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

leaze – meadow-land
w

own – admit
ie
id

haps – occurrences, chances


ev
br

credit – belief
am

stem – curb, restrain


-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 195

-C

s
es
y

Pr
op
138

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
The Telephone Call

y
ev

op
ni
Fleur Adcock
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

They asked me ‘Are you sitting down?


Right? This is Universal Lotteries’,
am

-R
they said. ‘You’ve won the top prize,
-C

the Ultra-super Global Special.

s
es
What would you do with a million pounds?
y

Or, actually, with more than a million –


Pr
op

not that it makes a lot of difference


ity
C

once you’re a millionaire.’ And they laughed.


rs
w

‘Are you OK?’ they asked – ‘Still there?


ie

ve

y
Come on, now, tell us, how does it feel?’
ev

op
ni

I said ‘I just . . . I can’t believe it!’


R

They said ‘That’s what they all say.


C
ge

What else? Go on, tell us about it.’


w
I said ‘I feel the top of my head
ie
id

has floated off, out through the window,


ev
br

revolving like a flying saucer.’


am

-R

‘That’s unusual’ they said. ‘Go on.’


-C

I said ‘I’m finding it hard to talk.


es

My throat’s gone dry, my nose is tingling.


y

Pr
op

I think I’m going to sneeze – or cry.’


‘That’s right’ they said, ‘don’t be ashamed
ity
C

of giving way to your emotions.


rs
w

It isn’t every day you hear


ie

ve

you’re going to get a million pounds.


y
ev

op
ni
R

Relax, now, have a little cry;


U

we’ll give you a moment . . .’ ‘Hang on!’ I said.


ge

‘I haven’t bought a lottery ticket


ie
id

for years and years. And what did you say


ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es

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id

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am

-R
196 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
es
the company’s called?’ They laughed again.
y ‘Not to worry about a ticket.

Pr
op
We’re Universal. We operate

ity
A retrospective Chances Module.
C

rs
w

Nearly everyone’s bought a ticket


ie

ve
in some lottery or another,

y
ev

op
ni
once at least. We buy up the files,
R

U
feed the names into our computer,

C
ge
and see who the lucky person is.’

w
‘Well, that’s incredible’ I said.

ie
id

‘It’s marvellous. I still can’t quite . . .

ev
br

I’ll believe it when I see the cheque.’


am

-R
‘Oh,’ they said, ‘there’s no cheque.’
-C

s
‘But the money?’ ‘We don’t deal in money.

es
Experiences are what we deal in.
y

Pr
You’ve had a great experience, right?
op

Exciting? Something you’ll remember?


ity
C

That’s your prize. So congratulations


rs
w

from all of us at Universal.


ie

ve

Have a nice day!’ And the line went dead.

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

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ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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am

-R
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s
es

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ie
id

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 197

-C

s
es
y

Pr
op
139

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
A Consumer’s Report

y
ev

op
ni
Peter Porter
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
The name of the product I tested is Life,
br
am

I have completed the form you sent me

-R
and understand that my answers are confidential.
-C

s
es
I had it as a gift,
y

I didn’t feel much while using it,


Pr
op

in fact I think I’d have liked to be more excited.


ity
C

It seemed gentle on the hands


but left an embarrassing deposit behind.
rs
w

It was not economical


ie

ve

y
and I have used much more than I thought
ev

op
ni

(I suppose I have about half left


R

C
but it’s difficult to tell) –
ge

although the instructions are fairly large


w
there are so many of them
ie
id

I don’t know which to follow, especially


ev
br

as they seem to contradict each other.


am

-R

I’m not sure such a thing


should be put in the way of children –
-C

It’s difficult to think of a purpose


es

Also the price is much too high.


y

Pr
op

Things are piling up so fast,


after all, the world got by
ity
C

for a thousand million years


rs
w

without this, do we need it now?


ie

ve

(Incidentally, please ask your man


y
ev

op
ni

to stop calling me ‘the respondent’,


R

I don’t like the sound of it.)


C

There seems to be a lot of different labels,


ge

sizes and colours should be uniform,


ie
id

the shape is awkward, it’s waterproof


ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
198 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
es
but not heat resistant, it doesn’t keep
y yet it’s very difficult to get rid of:

Pr
op
whenever they make it cheaper they seem

ity
to put less in – if you say you don’t
C

want it, then it’s delivered anyway.

rs
w

I’d agree it’s a popular product,


ie

ve
it’s got into the language; people

y
ev

op
ni
even say they’re on the side of it.
R

U
Personally I think it’s overdone,

C
ge
a small thing people are ready

w
to behave badly about. I think

ie
id

we should take it for granted. If its

ev
br

experts are called philosophers or market


am

-R
researchers or historians, we shouldn’t
care. We are the consumers and the last
-C

s
law makers. So finally, I’d buy it.

es
But the question of a ‘best buy’
y

Pr
I’d like to leave until I get
op

the competitive product you said you’d send.


ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
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s
es

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ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 199

-C

s
es
y

Pr
op
140

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Request To A Year

y
ev

op
ni
Judith Wright
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

If the year is meditating a suitable gift,


I should like it to be the attitude
am

-R
of my great-great-grandmother,
-C

legendary devotee of the arts,

s
es
y

who, having had eight children


Pr
op

and little opportunity for painting pictures,


ity
C

sat one day on a high rock


beside a river in Switzerland
rs
w
ie

ve

y
and from a difficult distance viewed
ev

op
ni

her second son, balanced on a small ice-floe,


R

drift down the current towards a waterfall


C
ge

that struck rock-bottom eighty feet below,


w
ie
id

while her second daughter, impeded,


ev
br

no doubt, by the petticoats of the day,


am

-R

stretched out a last-hope alpenstock


(which luckily later caught him on his way).
-C

s
es

Nothing, it was evident, could be done;


y

Pr
op

and with the artist’s isolating eye


my great-great-grandmother hastily sketched the scene.
ity
C

The sketch survives to prove the story by.


rs
w
ie

ve

Year, if you have no Mother’s day present planned;


y
ev

reach back and bring me the firmness of her hand.


op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ice-floe – sheet of floating ice


ev
br

alpenstock – walking-staff
am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
200 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
es
y

Pr
op
141

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book

y
ev

op
ni
Charles Tennyson Turner
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Some hand, that never meant to do thee hurt,


Has crushed thee here between these pages pent;
am

-R
But thou has left thine own fair monument,
-C

Thy wings gleam out and tell me what thou wert:

s
es
Oh! that the memories, which survive us here,
y

Were half as lovely as these wings of thine!


Pr
op

Pure relics of a blameless life, that shine


ity
C

Now thou art gone. Our doom is ever near:


The peril is beside us day by day;
rs
w

The book will close upon us, it may be,


ie

ve

y
Just as we lift ourselves to soar away
ev

op
ni

Upon the summer-airs. But, unlike thee,


R

The closing book may stop our vital breath,


C
ge

Yet leave no lustre on our page of death.


w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

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y
ev

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R

C
ge

w
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pent – shut up within


am

-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 201

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ity
C

rs
w
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Ozymandias

y
ev

op
ni
Percy Bysshe Shelley
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

I met a traveller from an antique land


Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
am

-R
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
-C

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

s
es
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
y

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read


Pr
op

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,


ity
C

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
rs
w

‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:


ie

ve

y
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
ev

op
ni

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay


R

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare


C
ge

The lone and level sands stretch far away.


w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

trunkless – lacking the chest or trunk of the body


stamped – inscribed
am

-R
-C

s
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Away, Melancholy

y
ev

op
ni
Stevie Smith
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Away, melancholy,
Away with it, let it go.
am

-R
-C

Are not the trees green,

s
es
The earth as green?
y

Does not the wind blow,


Pr
op

Fire leap and the rivers flow?


ity
C

Away melancholy.
rs
w

The ant is busy


ie

ve

y
He carrieth his meat,
ev

op
ni

All things hurry


R

To be eaten or eat.
C
ge

Away, melancholy.
w
ie
id

Man, too, hurries,


ev
br

Eats, couples, buries,


am

-R

He is an animal also
With a hey ho melancholy,
-C

Away with it, let it go.


es
y

Pr
op

Man of all creatures


Is superlative
ity
C

(Away melancholy)
rs
w

He of all creatures alone


ie

ve

Raiseth a stone
y
ev

(Away melancholy)
op
ni
R

Into the stone, the god


U

Pours what he knows of good


ge

Calling, good, God.


ie
id

Away melancholy, let it go.


ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
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am

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 203

-C

s
es
Speak not to me of tears,
y Tyranny, pox, wars,

Pr
op
Saying, Can God

ity
Stone of man’s thought, be good?
C

rs
w

Say rather it is enough


ie

ve
That the stuffed

y
ev

op
ni
Stone of man’s good, growing,
R

U
By man’s called God.

C
ge Away, melancholy, let it go.

w
ie
id

Man aspires

ev
br

To good,
am

-R
To love
Sighs;
-C

s
es
Beaten, corrupted, dying
y

Pr
In his own blood lying
op

Yet heaves up an eye above


ity
C

Cries, Love, love.


rs
w

It is his virtue needs explaining,


ie

ve

Not his failing.

y
ev

op
ni

Away, melancholy,
R

C
Away with it, let it go.
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
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C

rs
w
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y
ev

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R

C
ge

w
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id

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am

-R
-C

s
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R R R
ev ev ev
ie ie ie
w w w
C C C
op op op
y y y
-C -C -C -C
am am am am
br br br br
id id id id
ge ge ge
U U U
ni ni ni
ve ve ve
rs rs rs
ity ity ity
Pr Pr Pr
es es es es
s s s s
-R -R -R -R
ev ev ev ev
ie ie ie ie
w w w

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C C C
op op op
y y y
R R R
ev ev ev
ie ie ie
w w w
C C C
op op op
y y y
-C -C -C -C
am am am am
br br br br
id id id id
ge ge ge
U U U
ni ni ni
ve ve ve
rs rs rs
ity ity ity
Part 5
Pr Pr Pr
es es es es
s s s s
-R -R -R -R
ev ev ev ev
Poems from the Nineteenth
ie ie and Twentieth Centuries (III) ie ie
w w w

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C C C
op op op
y y y
R R R
ev ev ev
ie ie ie
w w w
C C C
op op op
y y y
-C -C -C -C
am am am am
br br br br
id id id id
ge ge ge
U U U
ni ni ni
ve ve ve
rs rs rs
ity ity ity
Pr Pr Pr
es es es es
s s s s
-R -R -R -R
ev ev ev ev
ie ie ie ie
w w w

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C C C
op op op
y y y
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id

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 207

-C

s
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y

Pr
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144

ity
C

rs
w
ie

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Childhood

y
ev

op
ni
Frances Cornford
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
I used to think that grown-up people chose
br

To have stiff backs and wrinkles round their nose,


am

-R
And veins like small fat snakes on either hand,
-C

On purpose to be grand.

s
Till through the bannisters I watched one day

es
My great-aunt Etty’s friend who was going away,
y

Pr
op

And how her onyx beads had come unstrung.


I saw her grope to find them as they rolled;
ity
C

And then I knew that she was helplessly old,


rs
w

As I was helplessly young.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

onyx – a semi-precious stone


am

-R
-C

s
es

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208 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

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Pr
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145

ity
C

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Because I Could Not Stop For Death

y
ev

op
ni
Emily Dickinson
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
Because I could not stop for Death —
br

He kindly stopped for me —


am

-R
The Carriage held but just Ourselves —
-C

And Immortality.

s
es
We slowly drove — He knew no haste
y

Pr
And I had put away
op

My labor and my leisure too,


ity
C

For his Civility —


rs
w

We passed the School, where Children strove


ie

ve

y
At Recess — in the Ring —
ev

op
ni

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain —


R

C
We passed the Setting Sun —
ge

w
Or rather — He passed Us —
ie
id

The Dews drew quivering and chill —


ev
br

For only Gossamer, my Gown —


am

-R

My Tippet — only Tulle —


-C

We paused before a House that seemed


s
es

A Swelling of the Ground —


y

The Roof was scarcely visible —


Pr
op

The Cornice — in the Ground —


ity
C

Since then — ’tis Centuries — and yet


rs
w

Feels shorter than the Day


ie

ve

I first surmised the Horses’ Heads


y
ev

op
ni

Were toward Eternity —


R

C
ge

w
ie
id

Tippet – narrow scarf


ev
br

Tulle – finely spun silk gauze


Cornice – decorative ceiling ornament
am

-R
-C

s
es

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 209

-C

s
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y

Pr
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146

ity
C

rs
w
ie

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One Art

y
ev

op
ni
Elizabeth Bishop
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
br

so many things seem filled with the intent


am

-R
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
-C

s
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

es
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
y

Pr
op

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.


ity
C

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:


rs
w

places, and names, and where it was you meant


ie

ve

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

y
ev

op
ni
R

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or


next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
C
ge

w
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
ie
id

ev
br

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,


am

-R

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.


I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.
-C

s
es

– Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture


y

Pr

I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident


op

the art of losing’s not too hard to master


ity
C

though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
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am

-R
-C

s
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210 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

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ity
C

rs
w
ie

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Song: Tears, Idle Tears

y
ev

op
ni
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
br

Tears from the depth of some divine despair


am

-R
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
-C

In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,

s
And thinking of the days that are no more.

es
y

Pr
op

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,


That brings our friends up from the underworld,
ity
C

Sad as the last which reddens over one


rs
w

That sinks with all we love below the verge;


ie

ve

So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.

y
ev

op
ni
R

Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns


The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds
C
ge

w
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
ie
id

The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;


ev
br

So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.


am

-R

Dear as remembered kisses after death,


-C

And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned


es

On lips that are for others; deep as love,


y

Pr

Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;


op

O Death in Life, the days that are no more.


ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

pipe – song
ev
br

casement – window
am

-R
-C

s
es

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 211

-C

s
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Pr
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148

ity
C

rs
w
ie

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My Parents

y
ev

op
ni
Stephen Spender
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
My parents kept me from children who were rough
br

Who threw words like stones and wore torn clothes


am

-R
Their thighs showed through rags. They ran in the street
-C

And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams.

s
es
I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron
y

Pr
op

Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms


I feared the salt coarse pointing of those boys
ity
C

Who copied my lisp behind me on the road.


rs
w
ie

ve

They were lithe they sprang out behind hedges

y
ev

op
ni

Like dogs to bark at my world. They threw mud


R

While I looked the other way, pretending to smile.


I longed to forgive them but they never smiled.
C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

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y
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R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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am

-R
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s
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212 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

-C

s
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Pr
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149

ity
C

rs
w
ie

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For Heidi With Blue Hair

y
ev

op
ni
Fleur Adcock
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

When you dyed your hair blue


(or, at least, ultramarine
am

-R
for the clipped sides, with a crest
-C

of jet-black spikes on top)

s
es
you were sent home from school
y

Pr
op

because, as the headmistress put it,


ity

although dyed hair was not


C

specifically forbidden, yours


rs
w

was, apart from anything else,


ie

ve

not done in the school colours.

y
ev

op
ni
R

Tears in the kitchen, telephone-calls


C
ge

to school from your freedom-loving father:


w
‘She’s not a punk in her behaviour;
ie
id

it’s just a style.’ (You wiped your eyes,


ev
br

also not in a school colour.)


am

-R

‘She discussed it with me first –


-C

we checked the rules.’ ‘And anyway, Dad,


es

it cost twenty-five dollars.


y

Pr

Tell them it won’t wash out –


op

not even if I wanted to try.’


ity
C

rs
w

It would have been unfair to mention


ie

ve

your mother’s death, but that


y
ev

shimmered behind the arguments.


op
ni

The school had nothing else against you;


R

the teachers twittered and gave in.


ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

punk – a teenage fashion and music style of the 1970s


am

-R
-C

s
es

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 213

-C

s
es
Next day your black friend had hers done
y in grey, white and flaxen yellow –

Pr
op
the school colours precisely:

ity
an act of solidarity, a witty
C

tease. The battle was already won.

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
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y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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am

-R
-C

s
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y

Pr
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C

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y
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ni
R

C
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am

-R
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214 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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150

ity
C

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w
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Praise Song For My Mother

y
ev

op
ni
Grace Nichols
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

You were
water to me
am

-R
deep and bold and fathoming
-C

s
es
You were
y

moon’s eye to me Pr
op

pull and grained and mantling


ity
C

You were
rs
w

sunrise to me
ie

ve

rise and warm and streaming

y
ev

op
ni
R

You were

C
ge

the fishes red gill to me


w
the flame tree’s spread to me
ie
id

the crab’s leg/the fried plantain smell replenishing replenishing


ev
br
am

-R

Go to your wide futures, you said


-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

fathoming – (1) measuring a depth; (2) understanding


ev
br

grained – seeded
mantling – enveloping, cushioning, surrounding
am

-R
-C

s
es

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 215

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151

ity
C

rs
w
ie

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Follower

y
ev

op
ni
Seamus Heaney
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
My father worked with a horse-plough,
br

His shoulders globed like a full sail strung


am

-R
Between the shafts and the furrow.
-C

The horses strained at his clicking tongue.

s
es
An expert. He would set the wing
y

Pr
op

And fit the bright steel-pointed sock.


The sod rolled over without breaking.
ity
C

At the headrig, with a single pluck


rs
w
ie

ve

Of reins, the sweating team turned round

y
ev

op
ni

And back into the land. His eye


R

Narrowed and angled at the ground,


Mapping the furrow exactly.
C
ge

w
ie
id

I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake,


ev
br

Fell sometimes on the polished sod;


am

-R

Sometimes he rode me on his back


Dipping and rising to his plod.
-C

s
es

I wanted to grow up and plough,


y

Pr

To close one eye, stiffen my arm.


op

All I ever did was follow


ity
C

In his broad shadow round the farm.


rs
w
ie

ve

I was a nuisance, tripping, falling,


y
ev

Yapping always. But today


op
ni

It is my father who keeps stumbling


R

Behind me, and will not go away.


ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

wing . . . sock . . . headrig – parts of the plough


yapping – chattering
am

-R
-C

s
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216 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Elegy For My Father’s Father

y
ev

op
ni
James K. Baxter
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
He knew in the hour he died
br

That his heart had never spoken


am

-R
In eighty years of days.
-C

O for the tall tower broken

s
Memorial is denied:

es
And the unchanging cairn
y

Pr
op

That pipes could set ablaze


An aaronsrod and blossom.
ity
C

They stood by the graveside


rs
w

From his bitter veins born


ie

ve

And mourned him in their fashion.

y
ev

op
ni

A chain of sods in a day


R

He could slice and build


High as the head of a man
C
ge

w
And a flowering cherry tree
ie
id

On his walking shoulder held


ev
br

Under the lion sun.


am

-R

When he was old and blind


He sat in a curved chair
-C

All day by the kitchen fire.


es

Many hours he had seen


y

Pr

The stars in their drunken dancing


op

Through the burning-glass of his mind


ity
C

And sober knew the green


rs
w

Boughs of heaven folding


ie

ve

The winter world in their hand.


y
ev

The pride of his heart was dumb.


op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

cairn – a pile of stones, raised as a monument


ev
br

aaronsrod – flowering shrub


burning-glass – magnifying-glass
am

-R
-C

s
es

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ie
id

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am

-R
Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 217

-C

s
es
He knew in the hour he died
y That his heart had never spoken

Pr
op
In song or bridal bed.

ity
And the naked thought fell back
C

To a house by the waterside

rs
w

And the leaves the wind had shaken


ie

ve
Then for a child’s sake:

y
ev

op
ni
To the waves all night awake
R

U
With the dark mouths of the dead.

C
ge The tongues of water spoke

w
And his heart was unafraid.

ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

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ni
R

C
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id

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am

-R
-C

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Pr
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C

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218 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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153

ity
C

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w
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The Trees Are Down

y
ev

op
ni
Charlotte Mew
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

– and he cried with a loud voice:

ev
br

Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees – (Revelation)
am

-R
They are cutting down the great plane-trees at the end of the gardens.
-C

s
For days there has been the grate of the saw, the swish of the branches as they fall,

es
The crash of trunks, the rustle of trodden leaves,
y

Pr
op

With the ‘Whoops’ and the ‘Whoas’, the loud common talk, the loud common laughs
of the men, above it all.
ity
C

rs
w

I remember one evening of a long past Spring


ie

ve

Turning in at a gate, getting out of a cart, and finding a large dead rat in the mud of

y
ev

op
ni

the drive.
R

I remember thinking: alive or dead, a rat was a god-forsaken thing,


But at least, in May, that even a rat should be alive.
C
ge

w
ie
id

The week’s work here is as good as done. There is just one bough
ev
br

On the roped bole, in the fine grey rain,


am

-R

Green and high


And lonely against the sky.
-C

(Down now! –)
es

And but for that,


y

Pr

If an old dead rat


op

Did once, for a moment, unmake the Spring, I might never have thought of him again.
ity
C

rs
w

It is not for a moment the Spring is unmade to-day;


ie

ve

These were great trees, it was in them from root to stem:


y
ev

When the men with the ‘Whoops’ and the ‘Whoas’ have carted the whole of the
op
ni

whispering loveliness away


R

Half the Spring, for me, will have gone with them.
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

bole – tree-trunk
am

-R
-C

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 219

-C

s
es
It is going now, and my heart has been struck with the hearts of the planes;
y
Half my life it has beat with these, in the sun, in the rains,

Pr
op
In the March wind, the May breeze,

ity
In the great gales that came over to them across the roofs from the great seas.
C

There was only a quiet rain when they were dying;

rs
w

They must have heard the sparrows flying,


ie

ve
And the small creeping creatures in the earth where they were lying –

y
ev

op
ni
But I, all day, I heard an angel crying:
R

U
‘Hurt not the trees’.

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
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C

rs
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y
ev

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R

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am

-R
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C

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220 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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y

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154

ity
C

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ie

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The Trees

y
ev

op
ni
Philip Larkin
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
The trees are coming into leaf
br

Like something almost being said;


am

-R
The recent buds relax and spread,
-C

Their greenness is a kind of grief.

s
es
Is it that they are born again
y

Pr
op

And we grow old? No, they die too.


Their yearly trick of looking new
ity
C

Is written down in rings of grain.


rs
w
ie

ve

Yet still the unresting castles thresh

y
ev

op
ni

In fullgrown thickness every May.


R

Last year is dead, they seem to say,


Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.
C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

rings of grain – i.e. the yearly patterns within a log’s cross-section


am

-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 221

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y

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155

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
Country School

y
ev

op
ni
Allen Curnow
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
You know the school; you call it old –
br

Scrub-worn floors and paint all peeled


am

-R
On barge-board, weatherboard and gibbet belfry.
-C

s
Pinus betrays, with rank tufts topping

es
The roof-ridge, scattering bravely
y

Pr
op

Nor’west gale as a reef its waves


While the small girls squeal at skipping
ity
C

And magpies hoot from the eaves.


rs
w
ie

ve

For scantling Pinus stands mature

y
ev

op
ni

In less than the life of a man;


R

The rusty saplings, the school, and you


Together your lives began.
C
ge

w
ie
id

O sweet antiquity! Look, the stone


ev
br

That skinned your knees. How small


am

-R

Are the terrible doors; how sad the dunny


And the things you drew on the wall.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

gibbet – gallows
C

belfry – bell-tower
ge

Pinus – (Latin) the botanical name for the pine-tree


ie
id

rank – thickly growing


ev
br

scantling – calibrating, measuring


dunny – (slang) toilet
am

-R
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222 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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156

ity
C

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ie

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Cambodia

y
ev

op
ni
James Fenton
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
One man shall smile one day and say goodbye.
br

Two shall be left, two shall be left to die.


am

-R
-C

One man shall give his best advice.

s
Three men shall pay the price.

es
y

Pr
op

One man shall live, live to regret.


Four men shall meet the debt.
ity
C

rs
w

One man shall wake from terror to his bed.


ie

ve

Five men shall be dead.

y
ev

op
ni
R

One man to five. A million men to one.


And still they die. And still the war goes on.
C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

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C

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 223

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157

ity
C

rs
w
ie

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Attack

y
ev

op
ni
Siegfried Sassoon
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

At dawn the ridge emerges massed and dun


In the wild purple of the glowering sun
am

-R
Smouldering through spouts of drifting smoke that shroud
-C

The menacing scarred slope; and, one by one,

s
es
Tanks creep and topple forward to the wire.
y

The barrage roars and lifts. Then, clumsily bowed


Pr
op

With bombs and guns and shovels and battle-gear,


ity

Men jostle and climb to meet the bristling fire.


C

Lines of grey, muttering faces, masked with fear,


rs
w

They leave their trenches, going over the top,


ie

ve

While time ticks blank and busy on their wrists,

y
ev

op
ni

And hope, with furtive eyes and grappling fists,


R

Flounders in mud. O Jesus, make it stop!

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

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Pr
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C

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224 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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158

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Reservist

y
ev

op
ni
Boey Kim Cheng
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Time again for the annual joust, the regular fanfare,


a call to arms, the imperative letters stern
am

-R
as clarion notes, the king’s command, upon
-C

the pain of court-martial, to tilt

s
es
at the old windmills. With creaking bones
y

and suppressed grunts, we battle-weary knights


Pr
op

creep to attention, ransack the wardrobes


ity

for our rusty armour, tuck the pot bellies


C

with great finesse into the shrinking gear,


rs
w

and with helmets shutting off half our world,


ie

ve

report for service. We are again united

y
ev

op
ni

with sleek weapons we were betrothed to


R

in our active cavalier days.


C
ge

w
We will keep charging up the same hills, plod
ie
id

through the same forests, till we are too old,


ev
br

too ill-fitted for life’s other territories.


am

-R

The same trails will find us time and again,


and we quick to obey, like children placed
-C

on carousels they cannot get off from, borne


es

along through somebody’s expensive fantasyland,


y

Pr

with an oncoming rush of tedious rituals, masked threats


op

and monsters armed with the same roar.


ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

reservist – a soldier serving within an auxiliary force as an emergency reserve


C

clarion – a war trumpet


ge

tilt – joust with, charge on horseback towards (Cervantes’s Don Quixote deludedly attacked
ie
id

windmills, thinking them enemy knights)


ev
br

cavalier – knightly, breezy, youthful


carousels – merry-go-rounds
am

-R
-C

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 225

-C

s
es
In the end we will perhaps surprise ourselves
y and emerge unlikely heroes with long years

Pr
op
of braving the same horrors

ity
pinned on our tunic fronts.
C

We will have proven that Sisyphus is not a myth.

rs
w

We will play the game till the monotony


ie

ve
sends his lordship to sleep.

y
ev

op
ni
We will march the same paths till they break
R

U
onto new trails, our lives stumbling

C
ge
onto the open sea, into daybreak.

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
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Pr
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C

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Pr
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C

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ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
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Sisyphus – in Greek myth, the man condemned to push a boulder up a mountain, for ever
am

-R
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Pr
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159

ity
C

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ie

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You Cannot Do This

y
ev

op
ni
Gwendolyn Macewen
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

you cannot do this to them, these are my people;


I am not speaking of poetry, I am not speaking of art.
am

-R
you cannot do this to them, these are my people.
-C

you cannot hack away the horizon in front of their eyes.

s
es
y

the tomb, articulate, will record your doing;


Pr
op

I will record it also, this is not art.


ity

this is a kind of science, a kind of hobby,


C

a kind of personal vice like coin collecting.


rs
w
ie

ve

it has something to do with horses

y
ev

op
ni

and signet rings and school trophies;


R

it has something to do with the pride of the loins;

C
ge

it has something to do with good food and music,


w
and something to do with power, and dancing.
ie
id

you cannot do this to them, these are my people.


ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

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ie

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ev

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R

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 227

-C

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Pr
op
160

ity
C

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w
ie

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Anthem For Doomed Youth

y
ev

op
ni
Wilfred Owen
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
br

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.


am

-R
Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle
-C

Can patter out their hasty orisons.

s
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells,

es
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, –
y

Pr
op

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;


And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
ity
C

rs
w

What candles may be held to speed them all?


ie

ve

Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

y
ev

op
ni

Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.


R

The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;


Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
C
ge

w
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

passing-bells – funeral bells rung in churches


ie
id

orisons – prayers
ev
br

shires – counties
pall – the cloth draped over a coffin
am

-R
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228 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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161

ity
C

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My Dreams Are Of A Field Afar

y
ev

op
ni
A.E. Housman
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
My dreams are of a field afar
br

And blood and smoke and shot.


am

-R
There in their graves my comrades are,
-C

In my grave I am not.

s
es
I too was taught the trade of man
y

Pr
op

And spelt the lesson plain;


But they, when I forgot and ran,
ity
C

Remembered and remain.


rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 229

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op
162

ity
C

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Friend

y
ev

op
ni
Hone Tuwhare
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
Do you remember
br

that wild stretch of land


am

-R
with the lone tree guarding the point
-C

from the sharp-tongued sea?

s
es
The fort we built out of branches
y

Pr
op

wrenched from the tree, is dead wood now.


The air that was thick with the whirr of
ity
C

toetoe spears succumbs at last to the


rs
w

grey gull’s wheel.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni

Oyster-studded roots
R

of the mangrove yield no finer feast


of silver-bellied eels, and sea-snails
C
ge

w
cooked in a rusty can.
ie
id

ev
br

Allow me
am

-R

to mend the broken ends


of shared days :
-C

but I wanted to say


es

that the tree we climbed


y

Pr

that gave food and drink


op

to youthful dreams, is no more.


ity
C

Pursed to the lips her fine-edged


rs
w

leaves made whistle – now stamp


ie

ve

no silken tracery on the cracked


y
ev

clay floor.
op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

toetoe – tall reed-like grass


tracery – elaborate pattern
am

-R
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230 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Friend,
y in this drear

Pr
op
dreamless time I clasp

ity
your hand if only to reassure
C

that all our jewelled fantasies were

rs
w

real and wore splendid rags.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
Perhaps the tree
R

U
will strike fresh roots again:

C
ge give soothing shade to a hurt and

w
troubled world.

ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

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C

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y
ev

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 231

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Pr
op
163

ity
C

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w
ie

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A Man I Am

y
ev

op
ni
Stevie Smith
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

I was consumed by so much hate


I did not feel that I could wait,
am

-R
I could not wait for long at anyrate.
-C

I ran into the the forest wild,

s
es
I seized a little new born child,
y

I tore his throat, I licked my fang,


Pr
op

Just like a wolf. A wolf I am.


ity
C

I ran wild for centuries


rs
w

Beneath the immemorial trees,


ie

ve

Sometimes I thought my heart would freeze,

y
ev

op
ni

And never know a moment’s ease,


R

But presently the spring broke in


C
ge

Upon the pastures of my sin,


w
My poor heart bled like anything.
ie
id

The drops fell down, I knew remorse,


ev
br

I tasted that primordial curse,


am

-R

And falling ill, I soon grew worse.


Until at last I cried on Him,
-C

Before whom angel faces dim,


es

To take the burden of my sin


y

Pr

And break my head beneath his wing.


op

ity
C

Upon the silt of death I swam


rs
w

And as I wept my joy began


ie

ve

Just like a man. A man I am.


y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

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br

primordial – primeval, original


am

-R
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Here

y
ev

op
ni
R.S. Thomas
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
I am a man now.
br

Pass your hand over my brow,


am

-R
You can feel the place where the brains grow.
-C

s
I am like a tree,

es
From my top boughs I can see
y

Pr
op

The footprints that led up to me.


ity
C

There is blood in my veins


rs
w

That has run clear of the stain


ie

ve

Contracted in so many loins.

y
ev

op
ni
R

Why, then, are my hands red


With the blood of so many dead?
C
ge

w
Is this where I was misled?
ie
id

ev
br

Why are my hands this way


am

-R

That they will not do as I say?


Does no God hear when I pray?
-C

s
es

I have nowhere to go.


y

Pr

The swift satellites show


op

The clock of my whole being is slow.


ity
C

rs
w

It is too late to start


ie

ve

For destinations not of the heart.


y
ev

I must stay here with my hurt.


op
ni
R

C
ge

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Pr
op
165

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve
A Dream

y
ev

op
ni
William Allingham
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
I heard the dogs howl in the moonlight night;
br

I went to the window to see the sight;


am

-R
All the Dead that ever I knew
-C

Going one by one and two by two.

s
es
On they passed, and on they passed;
y

Pr
op

Townsfellows all, from first to last;


Born in the moonlight of the lane,
ity
C

Quenched in the heavy shadow again.


rs
w
ie

ve

Schoolmates, marching as when we played

y
ev

op
ni

At soldiers once–but now more staid;


R

Those were the strangest sight to me


Who were drowned, I knew, in the awful sea.
C
ge

w
ie
id

Straight and handsome folk; bent and weak too;


ev
br

Some that I loved, and gasped to speak to;


am

-R

Some but a day in their churchyard bed;


Some that I had not known were dead.
-C

s
es

A long, long crowd–where each seemed lonely,


y

Pr

Yet of them all there was one, one only,


op

Raised a head or looked my way:


ity
C

She lingered a moment,–she might not stay.


rs
w
ie

ve

How long since I saw that fair pale face!


y
ev

Ah! Mother dear! might I only place


op
ni

My head on thy breast, a moment to rest,


R

While thy hand on my tearful cheek were pressed!


ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
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234 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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On, on, a moving bridge they made
y Across the moon-stream, from shade to shade,

Pr
op
Young and old, women and men;

ity
Many long-forgot, but remembered then.
C

rs
w

And first there came a bitter laughter;


ie

ve
A sound of tears the moment after;

y
ev

op
ni
And then a music so lofty and gay,
R

U
That every morning, day by day,

C
ge
I strive to recall it if I may.

w
ie
id

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br
am

-R
-C

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Pr
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166

ity
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Time’s Fool

y
ev

op
ni
Ruth Pitter
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Time’s fool, but not heaven’s: yet hope not for any return.
am

-R
The rabbit-eaten dry branch and the halfpenny candle
Are lost with the other treasure: the sooty kettle
-C

s
Thrown away, become redbreast’s home in the hedge, where the nettle

es
Shoots up, and bad bindweed wreathes rust-fretted handle.
y

Pr
Under that broken thing no more shall the dry branch burn.
op

ity
C

Poor comfort all comfort: once what the mouse had spared
rs
w

Was enough, was delight, there where the heart was at home;
ie

ve

The hard cankered apple holed by the wasp and the bird,

y
ev

The damp bed, with the beetle’s tap in the headboard heard,

op
ni

The dim bit of mirror, three inches of comb:


R

C
Dear enough, when with youth and with fancy shared.
ge

w
ie
I knew that the roots were creeping under the floor,
id

ev

That the toad was safe in his hole, the poor cat by the fire,
br

The starling snug in the roof, each slept in his place:


am

-R

The lily in splendour, the vine in her grace,


-C

The fox in the forest, all had their desire,


s

As then I had mine, in the place that was happy and poor.
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
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redbreast – robin (bird)


bindweed – a weed common in hedges and fields
am

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236 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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167

ity
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Cold In The Earth

y
ev

op
ni
Emily Brontë
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
Cold in the earth, and the deep snow piled above thee!
br

Far, far removed, cold in the dreary grave!


am

-R
Have I forgot, my Only Love, to love thee,
-C

Severed at last by Time’s all-wearing wave?

s
es
Now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hover
y

Pr
op

Over the mountains on Angora’s shore;


Resting their wings where heath and fern-leaves cover
ity
C

That noble heart for ever, ever more?


rs
w
ie

ve

Cold in the earth, and fifteen wild Decembers

y
ev

op
ni

From those brown hills have melted into spring –


R

Faithful indeed is the spirit that remembers


After such years of change and suffering!
C
ge

w
ie
id

Sweet Love of youth, forgive if I forget thee


ev
br

While the World’s tide is bearing me along:


am

-R

Sterner desires and darker hopes beset me,


Hopes which obscure but cannot do thee wrong.
-C

s
es

No other Sun has lightened up my heaven;


y

Pr

No other Star has ever shone for me:


op

All my life’s bliss from thy dear life was given –


ity
C

All my life’s bliss is in the grave with thee.


rs
w
ie

ve

But when the days of golden dreams had perished


y
ev

And even Despair was powerless to destroy,


op
ni

Then did I learn how existence could be cherished,


R

Strengthened and fed without the aid of joy;


ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

all-wearing – i.e. which wears everything away


am

-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 237

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s
es
Then did I check the tears of useless passion,
y Weaned my young soul from yearning after thine;

Pr
op
Sternly denied its burning wish to hasten

ity
Down to that tomb already more than mine!
C

rs
w

And even yet, I dare not let it languish,


ie

ve
Dare not indulge in Memory’s rapturous pain;

y
ev

op
ni
Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish,
R

U
How could I seek the empty world again?

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
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ity
C

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y
ev

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R

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am

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Pr
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y
ev

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R

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238 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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168

ity
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À Quoi Bon Dire

y
ev

op
ni
Charlotte Mew
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

Seventeen years ago you said


Something that sounded like Good-bye;
am

-R
And everybody thinks that you are dead,
-C

But I.

s
es
y

So I, as I grow stiff and cold


Pr
op

To this and that say Good-bye too;


ity

And everybody sees that I am old


C

But you.
rs
w
ie

ve

And one fine morning in a sunny lane

y
ev

op
ni

Some boy and girl will meet and kiss and swear
R

That nobody can love their way again

C
ge

While over there


w
You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
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id

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br

À Quoi Bon Dire – (French) what’s the good / what’s the point
am

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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 239

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Pr
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169

ity
C

rs
w
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From The Triumph of Time

y
ev

op
ni
A.C. Swinburne
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
Before our lives divide for ever,
br

While time is with us and hands are free,


am

-R
(Time, swift to fasten and swift to sever
-C

Hand from hand, as we stand by the sea)

s
I will say no word that a man might say

es
Whose whole life’s love goes down in a day;
y

Pr
op

For this could never have been; and never,


Though the gods and the years relent, shall be.
ity
C

rs
w

Is it worth a tear, is it worth an hour,


ie

ve

To think of things that are well outworn?

y
ev

op
ni

Of fruitless husk and fugitive flower,


R

The dream foregone and the deed forborne?


Though joy be done with and grief be vain,
C
ge

w
Time shall not sever us wholly in twain;
ie
id

Earth is not spoilt for a single shower;


ev
br

But the rain has ruined the ungrown corn.


am

-R

It will grow not again, this fruit of my heart,


-C

Smitten with sunbeams, ruined with rain.


es

The singing seasons divide and depart,


y

Pr

Winter and summer depart in twain.


op

It will grow not again, it is ruined at root,


ity
C

The bloodlike blossom, the dull red fruit;


rs
w

Though the heart yet sickens, the lips yet smart,


ie

ve

With sullen savour of poisonous pain.


y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

twain – two
ev
br

sullen savour – sour taste


am

-R
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I have given no man of my fruit to eat;
y I trod the grapes, I have drunken the wine.

Pr
op
Had you eaten and drunken and found it sweet,

ity
This wild new growth of the corn and vine,
C

This wine and bread without lees or leaven,

rs
w

We had grown as gods, as the gods in heaven,


ie

ve
Souls fair to look upon, goodly to greet,

y
ev

op
ni
One splendid spirit, your soul and mine.
R

C
ge
In the change of years, in the coil of things,

w
In the clamour and rumour of life to be,

ie
id

We, drinking love at the furthest springs,

ev
br

Covered with love as a covering tree,


am

-R
We had grown as gods, as the gods above,
Filled from the heart to the lips with love,
-C

s
Held fast in his hands, clothed warm with his wings,

es
O love, my love, had you loved but me!
y

Pr
op

We had stood as the sure stars stand, and moved


ity
C

As the moon moves, loving the world; and seen


rs
w

Grief collapse as a thing disproved,


ie

ve

Death consume as a thing unclean.

y
ev

Twain halves of a perfect heart, made fast

op
ni

Soul to soul while the years fell past;


R

C
Had you loved me once, as you have not loved;
ge

w
Had the chance been with us that has not been.
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

lees – sediment in wine


ev
br

leaven – yeast
coil – turmoil
am

-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 241

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170

ity
C

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ie

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Meeting At Night

y
ev

op
ni
Robert Browning
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

The grey sea and the long black land;


And the yellow half-moon large and low;
am

-R
And the startled little waves that leap
-C

In fiery ringlets from their sleep,

s
es
As I gain the cove with pushing prow,
y

And quench its speed i’ the slushy sand.


Pr
op

ity

Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;


C

Three fields to cross till a farm appears;


rs
w

A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch


ie

ve

And blue spurt of a lighted match,

y
ev

op
ni

And a voice less loud, through its joys and fears,


R

Than the two hearts beating each to each!


C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br
am

-R
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
br

prow – the front part of a boat


am

-R
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242 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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171

ity
C

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w
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Because I Liked You Better

y
ev

op
ni
A.E. Housman
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
Because I liked you better
br

Than suits a man to say,


am

-R
It irked you, and I promised
-C

To throw the thought away.

s
es
To put the world between us
y

Pr
op

We parted, stiff and dry;


‘Good-bye’, said you, ‘forget me.’
ity
C

‘I will, no fear’, said I.


rs
w
ie

ve

If here, where clover whitens

y
ev

op
ni

The dead man’s knoll, you pass,


R

And no tall flower to meet you


Starts in the trefoiled grass,
C
ge

w
ie
id

Halt by the headstone naming


ev
br

The heart no longer stirred,


am

-R

And say the lad that loved you


Was one that kept his word.
-C

s
es
y

Pr
op

ity
C

rs
w
ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

knoll – hillock, mound


ev
br

trefoiled grass – i.e. clover


am

-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 243

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Pr
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172

ity
C

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w
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From The Ballad of Reading Gaol

y
ev

op
ni
Oscar Wilde
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

ev
He did not wear his scarlet coat,
br

For blood and wine are red,


am

-R
And blood and wine were on his hands
-C

When they found him with the dead,

s
The poor dead woman whom he loved,

es
And murdered in her bed.
y

Pr
op

He walked amongst the Trial Men


ity
C

In a suit of shabby grey;


rs
w

A cricket cap was on his head,


ie

ve

And his step seemed light and gay;

y
ev

op
ni

But I never saw a man who looked


R

So wistfully at the day.

C
ge

w
I never saw a man who looked
ie
id

With such a wistful eye


ev
br

Upon that little tent of blue


am

-R

Which prisoners call the sky,


And at every drifting cloud that went
-C

With sails of silver by.


es
y

Pr

I walked, with other souls in pain,


op

Within another ring,


ity
C

And was wondering if the man had done


rs
w

A great or little thing,


ie

ve

When a voice behind me whispered low,


y
ev

‘That fellow’s got to swing.’


op
ni
R

C
ge

w
ie
id

scarlet coat – soldier’s tunic


ev
br

Trial Men – i.e. those in the courtroom


swing – hang
am

-R
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244 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Dear Christ! the very prison walls
y Suddenly seemed to reel,

Pr
op
And the sky above my head became

ity
Like a casque of scorching steel;
C

And, though I was a soul in pain,

rs
w

My pain I could not feel.


ie

ve

y
ev

op
ni
I only knew what hunted thought
R

U
Quickened his step, and why

C
geHe looked upon the garish day

w
With such a wistful eye;

ie
id

The man had killed the thing he loved,

ev
br

And so he had to die.


am

-R
.....
-C

s
Yet each man kills the thing he loves,

es
By each let this be heard,
y

Pr
Some do it with a bitter look,
op

Some with a flattering word,


ity
C

The coward does it with a kiss,


rs

The brave man with a sword!


w
ie

ve

y
ev

Some kill their love when they are young,

op
ni

And some when they are old;


R

C
Some strangle with the hands of Lust,
ge

Some with the hands of Gold:


w
ie
The kindest use a knife, because
id

ev

The dead so soon grow cold.


br
am

-R

Some love too little, some too long,


-C

Some sell, and others buy;


s

Some do the deed with many tears,


es

And some without a sigh:


y

Pr
op

For each man kills the thing he loves.


Yet each man does not die.
ity
C

rs
w

He does not die a death of shame


ie

ve

On a day of dark disgrace,


y
ev

op
ni

Nor have a noose about his neck,


R

Nor a cloth upon his face,


C

Nor drop feet foremost through the floor


ge

Into an empty space.


ie
id

ev
br

casque – helmet
am

-R
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 245

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op
Index of First Lines

ity
C

rs
w
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A chimney-sweeper’s boy am I 92

y
ev

op
ni
A cool small evening shrunk to a dog bark and the clank 149
R

U
A free bird leaps 115

C
A little black thing among the snow 94
ge

w
A married state affords but little ease 69

ie
id
Adieu, farewell, earth’s bliss 16

ev
br

Ants prudent bite the ends of hoarded wheat 51


am

-R
As I sat at the Café I said to myself 123
As loving hind that, hartless, wants her deer 67
-C

s
As waked from sleep, methought I heard the voice 74

es
‘As you came from the holy land 23
y

Ask me no more where Jove bestows 22


Pr
op

At dawn the ridge emerges massed and dun 223


ity
C

At the instant of drowning he invoked the three sisters 142


rs
w

Away, melancholy 202


ie

ve

y
ev

Be judge yourself, I’ll bring it to the test 90

op
ni

Because I could not stop for Death 208


R

C
Because I liked you better 242
ge

Before our lives divide for ever 239


w
ie
Betwixt two ridges of ploughed land lay Wat 86
id

ev

Blow, blow, thou winter wind 34


br

By this he knew she wept with waking eyes 189


am

-R
-C

Cold in the earth, and the deep snow piled above thee! 236
s

Cold was the night wind, drifting fast the snows fell 78
es

Come, darkest night, becoming sorrow best 18


y

Pr
op

Come live with me, and be my love 27


Cruising these residential Sunday 172
ity
C

rs
w

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee 104


ie

ve

Distinguish carefully between these two 126


y
ev

op
ni

Do you remember 229


R

Drink to me only with thine eyes 40


C
ge

Earth has not anything to show more fair 177


ie
id

Even such is time, which takes in trust 15


ev
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-R
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False life! a foil and no more, when 102
y
Fear no more the heat o’ th’ sun 20

Pr
op
For the green turtle with her pulsing burden 150

ity
Full fathom five thy father lies 42
C

rs
w

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may 55


ie

ve
Glory be to God for dappled things 162

y
ev

op
ni
Go, lovely rose! 11
R

U
Golden slumbers kiss your eyes 41

C
ge
Good reader, now you tasted have 43

w
Great Pan is not dead 161

ie
id

ev
br

Happy insect, what can be 53


am

-R
Happy the man whose wish and care 70
He did not wear his scarlet coat 243
-C

s
He knew in the hour he died 216

es
He never learned her, quite. Year after year 155
y

Pr
Here first the day does break 63
op

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways! 157


ity
C

rs
w

I am a man now 232


ie

ve

I am content, I do not care 96

y
ev

I am the nor’west air nosing among the pines 145

op
ni

I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul 192
R

C
I feed a flame within which so torments me 61
ge

w
I grieve, and dare not show my discontent 39
ie
id

I hate that drum’s discordant sound 83


ev
br

I have had playmates, I have had companions 137


am

I have thought so much about the girl 129


-R

I heard the dogs howl in the moonlight night 233


-C

I like working near a door. I like to have my work-bench 124


s
es

I met a traveller from an antique land 201


y

I ne’er was struck before that hour 154


Pr
op

I sat all morning in the college sick bay 138


ity
C

I struck the board, and cried, ‘No more 100


I used to think that grown-up people chose 207
rs
w

I wake up cold, I who 181


ie

ve

I was consumed by so much hate 231


ev

op
ni

I watched a giant cockroach start to pace 171


R

If the year is meditating a suitable gift 199


ge

‘I’m rising five’, he said 117


w

In unexperienced infancy 48
ie
id

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan 110


ev
br

Intense blue morning 127


am

-R
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Is the fish ready? You’re a tedious while 71
y
‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller 139

Pr
op
It is not growing like a tree 19

ity
C

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan 112

rs
w
ie

ve
Little Fly 47

y
ev

op
ni
Love in fantastic triumph sat 60
R

U
Love’s an headstrong wild desire 58

C
ge

w
Men of England, wherefore plough 121

ie
id

My dreams are of a field afar 228

ev
br

My father worked with a horse-plough 215


am

-R
My heart is like a singing bird 169
My parents kept me from children who were rough 211
-C

s
My prime of youth is but a frost of cares 14

es
y

Pr
Nights like this: on the cold apple-bough 148
op

No crookèd leg, no blearèd eye 12


ity
C

Nobody heard him, the dead man 141


rs
w

Now from each van 84


ie

ve

Now that the world is all in amaze 95

y
ev

op
ni

Of this world’s theatre in which we stay 28


R

C
On the road to the bay was a lake of rushes 178
ge

w
One day I wrote her name upon the strand 30
ie
id

One man shall smile one day and say goodbye 222
ev
br

O quam te memorem virgo 191


am

-R

People are made of places. They carry with them 176


-C

Pike, three inches long, perfect 167


s
es

Pity me not because the light of day 158


y

Pr
op

Rain, midnight rain, nothing but the wild rain 183


ity
C

Romira, stay 56
rs
w

Seventeen years ago you said 238


ie

ve

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? 32


ev

op
ni

She dwelt among the untrodden ways 130


R

she sat down 134


ge

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more 6


w

Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part 10


ie
id

So forth issued the seasons of the year 35


ev
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-R
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So we must part, my body, you and I 184
y
So, we’ll go no more a-roving 156

Pr
op
Some hand, that never meant to do thee hurt 200

ity
Spring, the sweet spring, is the year’s pleasant king 31
C

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone 190

rs
w

Straws like tame lightnings lie about the grass 175


ie

ve
Sun-warmed in this late season’s grace 166

y
ev

op
ni
Sundays too my father got up early 136
R

U
Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content 38

C
ge

w
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean 210

ie
id

Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind 82

ev
br

That time of year thou mayst in me behold 33


am

-R
The art of losing isn’t hard to master 209
The children are at the loom of another world 120
-C

s
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day 105

es
The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring 152
y

Pr
The flowers that on the banks and walks did grow 25
op

The glories of our blood and state 103


ity
C

The grey sea and the long black land 241


rs
w

The man of life upright 37


ie

ve

The moon rolls over the roof and falls behind 163

y
ev

The name of the product I tested is Life 197

op
ni

The poetry of earth is never dead 151


R

C
The sea is calm to-night 146
ge

w
The spirit is too blunt an instrument 186
ie
id

The trees are coming into leaf 220


ev
br

The wind flapped loose, the wind was still 170


am

These emmets, how little they are in our eyes! 52


-R

They are cutting down the great plane-trees at the end of the gardens 218
-C

They asked me ‘Are you sitting down? 195


s
es

They flee from me, that sometime did me seek 9


y

They plan. They build. All spaces are gridded 174


Pr
op

Those lumbering horses in the steady plough 164


ity
C

Though my mother was already two years dead 188


Time again for the annual joust, the regular fanfare 224
rs
w

Time’s fool, but not heaven’s: yet hope not for any return 235
ie

ve

Tuckett. Bill Tuckett. Telegraph operator, Hall’s Creek 180


ev

op
ni

’Twas at the silent, solemn hour 75


R

C
ge

Weep you no more, sad fountains 7


w

Well, World, you have kept faith with me 194


ie
id

What does he do with them all, the old king 143


ev
br
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 249

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What is our life? A play of passion 29
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What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? 227

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What thing is love? – for sure love is a thing 4

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When I consider how my light is spent 99
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When I was fair and young, and favour graced me 8

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When I was young and there were five of us 132


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When you dyed your hair blue 212

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Where lies the land to which the ship would go? 179
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Why do I love? Go, ask the glorious sun 65

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Why so pale and wan, fond lover? 3

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With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb’st the skies! 13

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Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me 144

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Work-table, litter, books and standing lamp 182


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Ye living lamps, by whose dear light 62
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Yes, injured Woman! rise, assert thy right! 80

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You endless torments that my rest oppress 5
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You know the school; you call it old 221
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You should be here, Nature has need of you 153


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You were 214


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You will see him light a cigarette 131


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you cannot do this to them, these are my people 226

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Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt 119

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250 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Acknowledgements

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The authors and publishers acknowledge the following sources of copyright material
and are grateful for the permissions granted. While every effort has been made, it has

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not always been possible to identify the sources of all the material used, or to trace all
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copyright holders. If any omissions are brought to our notice, we will be happy to include
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the appropriate acknowledgements on reprinting.
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‘Caged Bird’ from SHAKER, WHY DON’T YOU SING? by Maya Angelou, copyright

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© 1983 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and
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division of Penguin Random House LLC All rights reserved, and first published in Great
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Britain by Virago, an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group.; ‘Rising Five’ by Norman
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Nicholson, from Collected Poems (Faber & Faber), reprinted by permission of David
Higham Associates Limited; ‘Little Boy Crying’ by Mervyn Morris in The Pond: a book
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of poems, used with permission from Carcanet Press Limited; ‘Carpet Weavers, Morocco’

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by Carol Rumens in Selected Poems. Used by permission of Sheep Meadow Press;
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‘Monologue’ by Hone Tuwhare, now available in Small Holes in the Silence: Collected
Works, Godwit Press, Penguin Random House NZ, 2011. Publishing rights for the poem
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are held by the Estate of Hone Tuwhare. All inquiries to honetuwharepoetry@gmail.


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com; ‘The Justice of the Peace’ from Complete Verse by Hilaire Belloc, reprinted by
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permission of Peters Fraser & Dunlop (www.petersfraserdunlop.com) on behalf of the

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Estate of Hilaire Belloc; ‘Before the sun’ by Charles Mungoshi © 1988, Charles
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Mungoshi from The Milkman Doesn’t Only Deliver Milk. Used with permission from the

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author; ‘Muliebrity’ by Sujata Bhatt in Point No Point: Selected Poems, used with
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permission from Carcanet Press Limited; ‘Farmhand’ by James K Baxter, in Selected
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Poems, used with permission from Carcanet Press Limited and the James K. Baxter
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Trust; ‘Plenty’ from Weather Eye (Carapace, 2001). Copyright © 2001 Isobel Dixon.
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Reprinted by permission of the author; ‘Storyteller’ by Liz Lochhead in Dreaming


Frankenstein, Polygon. Reproduced with permission of the Licensor through PLSclear;
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‘Those Winter Sundays’ Copyright © 1966 by Robert Hayden, from COLLECTED


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POEMS OF ROBERT HAYDEN by Robert Hayden, edited by Frederick Glaysher.


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Used by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation; ‘Mid-Term Break’ from


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OPENED GROUND: SELECTED POEMS 1966–1996 by Seamus Heaney. Copyright


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© 1998 by Seamus Heaney. Reprinted by permission from Farrar, Straus and Giroux and
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Faber & Faber Ltd; ‘The Listeners’ by Walter de la Mer, used with permission from The
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Literary Trustees of Walter de la Mer and The Society of Authors as their representative;
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‘Not Waving But Drowning’ by Stevie Smith from ALL THE POEMS copyright © 1937,
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1938, 1942, 1950, 1957, 1962, 1966, 1971, 1972 by Stevie Smith. Copyright © 2016 by the
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Estate of James MacGibbon. Copyright © 2015 by Will May. Reprinted by permission


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of New Directions Publishing Corp. and Faber & Faber Ltd; ‘The Three Fates’ by
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Rosemary Dobson in The Three Fates and Other Poems by arrangement with the
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Licensor, Rosemary Dobson, c/o Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd; ‘Elegy for Drowned
Children’ by Bruce Dawe in Sometimes gladness: collected poems 1954–1978 used with
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Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 251

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permission from the author; ‘Time’ Copyright Tim Curnow, from Allen Curnow:

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Collected Poems, edited by Elizabeth Caffin and Terry Sturm, Auckland University Press,
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2017; ‘Amends’ from DARK FIELDS OF THE REPUBLIC: POEMS 1991–1995 by

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Adrienne Rich. Copyright© 1995 by Adrienne Rich. Used by permission of W.W.
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Norton & Company, Inc.; ‘Full Moon and Little Frieda’ by Ted Hughes from

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COLLECTED POEMS, © the Estate of Ted Hughes, reproduced by permission of


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Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Faber & Faber Ltd.; ‘Lament’ by Gillian Clarke in

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Collected Poems, used with permission from Carcanet Press Limited; ‘Report to
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Wordsworth’ by Boey Kim Cheng in Another Place, reproduced with permission from

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the author; ‘Marrysong’ by Dennis Scott in Strategies (Sandberry Press); Edna St.
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Vincent Millay, ‘Pity me not because the light of day’ from Collected Poems. Copyright

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1923, 1951 by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Norma Millay Ellis. Used with the

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permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Holly Peppe, Literary


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Executor, The Edna St. Vincent Millay Society, www.millay.org; ‘A Different History’ by
Sujata Bhatt in Brunizem, used with permission from Carcanet Press Limited;
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‘Continuum’ Copyright Tim Curnow from Allen Curnow: Collected Poems, edited by

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Elizabeth Caffin and Terry Sturm, Auckland University Press, 2017; ‘Horses’ by Edwin
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Muir from Collected Poems, © the Estate of Edwin Muir, reproduced by permission of
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Faber &Faber Ltd.; ‘Hunting Snake’ by Judith Wright in Collected Poems published and
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used with permission by HarperCollins Publishers and Copyright © The Estate of Judith
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Wright 1994; ‘Pike’ by Ted Hughes in Collected Poems © the Estate of Ted Hughes,
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reproduced by permission of Faber & Faber Ltd and Farrar, Straus and Giroux; ‘The

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Cockroach’ by Kevin Halligan used with permission from Springfield Books; ‘The City

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Planners’ by Margaret Atwood in The Circle Game, published and used by permission of
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House of Anansi; ‘The Planners’ by Boey Kim Cheng in Another Place. Reproduced
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with permission from the author; ‘Summer Farm’ by Norman MacCraig in Selected
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Poems (Birlinn). Reproduced with permission of the Licensor through PLSclear; ‘Where
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I Come From’ by Elizabeth Brewster is reprinted from Collected Poems of Elizabeth


Brewster by permission of Oberon Press; ‘The Bay’ by James K Baxter in Selected
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Poems, used with permission from Carcanet Press Limited and the James K. Baxter
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Trust; ‘Morse’ by Les Murray in Collected Poems, used with permission from Carcanet
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Press Limited, Margaret Connolly Associates and Farrar, Straus and Giroux; ‘The Man
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with Night Sweats’ from COLLECTED POEMS by Thom Gunn. Copyright © 1994 by
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Thom Gunn. Reprinted by permission by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and Faber & Faber
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Ltd; ‘Night Sweat’ by Robert Lowell used with permission from Farrar, Straus and
Giroux; ‘The spirit is too blunt an instrument’ by Anne Stevenson in Collected Poems
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1955–1995 (Bloodaxe Books, 2005) www.bloodaxebooks.com; ‘Long Distance’ by Tony


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Harrison in Selected Poems, © Tony Harrison, reproduced by permission of Faber &


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Faber Ltd; ‘Funeral Blues’ copyright © 1940 and renewed 1968 by W.H. Auden; from W.
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H. AUDEN COLLECTED POEMS by W. H. Auden. Used by permission of Random


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House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC and Curtis Brown Ltd.;
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‘La Figlia che Piange’ by TS Eliot in Collected Poems: 1909–1962, © the Estate of T S
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Eliot, reproduced by permission of Faber and Faber Ltd; ‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur
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Adcock, Poems 1960–2000 (Bloodaxe Books, 2000) www.bloodaxebooks.com; ‘A


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252 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1

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Consumer’s Report’ from Collected Poems by Peter Porter, published by Oxford

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University Press, Copyright© Peter Porter. Reproduced with permission of the estate of

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the author c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd., 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN;
‘Request to a year’ by Judith Wright in Collected Poems published and used with

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permission by HarperCollins Publishers and Copyright © The Estate of Judith Wright

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1994; ‘Away Melancholy’ by Stevie Smith from ALL THE POEMS, copyright © 1937,
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1938, 1942, 1950, 1957, 1962, 1966, 1971, 1972 by Stevie Smith. Copyright © 2016 by the

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Estate of James MacGibbon. Copyright © 2015 by Will May. Reprinted by permission
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of New Directions Publishing Corp, and Faber & Faber Ltd; ‘Childhood’ by Frances

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Cornford is reproduced from her Selected Poems (Enitharmon Press, 1996); ‘One Art’
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from The Complete Poems by Elizabeth Bishop 1927–1979. Used by permission of

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Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright ©

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2011 by The Alice H. Methfessel Trust. Publisher’s Note and compilation copyright ©
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2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.; ‘My Parents’ by Stephen Spender in New Collected
Poems (Faber) used by permission of Curtis Brown; ‘For Heidi with Blue Hair’ by Fleur
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Adcock, Poems 1960–2000 (Bloodaxe Books, 2000) www.bloodaxebooks.com; ‘Praise

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song for my mother’ by Grace Nichols, used with permission from Curtis Brown;
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‘Follower’ from OPENED GROUND: SELECTED POEMS 1966–1996 by Seamus
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Heaney. Copyright © 1998 by Seamus Heaney. Reprinted with permission by Farrar,


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Straus and Giroux and Faber & Faber Ltd.; ‘Elegy for my Father’s Father’ by James K
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Baxter, used with permission from Carcanet Press Limited and the James K. Baxter
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Trust; ‘The Trees’ by Philip Larkin in Complete Poems, © the Estate of Philip Larkin,

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reproduced by permission of Faber & Faber Ltd and Farrar, Straus and Giroux;

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‘Country School’ Copyright Tim Curnow from Allen Curnow: Collected Poems, edited by
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Elizabeth Caffin and Terry Sturm, Auckland University Press, 2017; ‘Cambodia’ by
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James Fenton in Yellow Tulips, © James Fenton, reproduced by permission of Faber
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&Faber Ltd.; ‘Attack’ by Siegfried Sassoon in Collected Poems used with permission
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from Barbara Levy Agency; ‘Reservist’ by Boey Kim Cheng, reproduced with permission
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from the author; ‘You Cannot Do This’ by Gwedolyn MacEwen, used by permission of
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the Author’s Family; ‘My dreams are of a field afar’ by A.E. Housman from the book
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THE COLLECTED POEMS OF A.E. HOUSMAN. Copyright© 1936 by Barclays


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Bank, Ltd. Copyright© 1964, 1967 by Robert E. Symons. Copyright© 1939, 1940, 1965
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by Henry Holt and Company. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company.
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All rights reserved; ‘Friend’ by Hone Tuwhare, now available in Small Holes in the
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Silence: Collected Works, Godwit Press, Penguin Random House NZ, 2011. Publishing
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rights for the poem are held by the Estate of Hone Tuwhare. All inquiries to
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honetuwharepoetry@gmail.com; ‘A Man I Am’ by Stevie Smith from ALL THE


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POEMS, copyright © 1937, 1938, 1942, 1950, 1957, 1962, 1966, 1971, 1972 by Stevie
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Smith. Copyright © 2016 by the Estate of James MacGibbon. Copyright © 2015 by Will
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May. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp. and Faber & Faber
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Ltd.; ‘Here’ from COLLECTED POEMS 1945–1990 by RS Thomas. Used with


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permission from Orion Publishing Group; ‘Time’s Fool’ by Ruth Pitter from Collected
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Poems (Enitharmon Press, 1996) reproduced with permission from Enitharmon Editions.
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