Summer in England, 1914

Alice Meynell 1847 (London) – 1922



On London fell a clearer light;
Caressing pencils of the sun
Defined the distances, the white
Houses transfigured one by one,
The 'long, unlovely street' impearled.
O what a sky has walked the world!

Most happy year! And out of town
The hay was prosperous, and the wheat;
The silken harvest climbed the down:
Moon after moon was heavenly-sweet,
Stroking the bread within the sheaves,
Looking 'twixt apples and their leaves.

And while this rose made round her cup,
The armies died convulsed. And when
This chaste young silver sun went up
Softly, a thousand shattered men,
One wet corruption, heaped the plain,
After a league-long throb of pain.

Flower following tender flower; and birds,
And berries; and benignant skies
Made thrive the serried flocks and herds. --
Yonder are men shot through the eyes.
Love, hide thy face
From man's unpardonable race.

Who said 'No man hath greater love than this,
To die to serve his friend'?
So these have loved us all unto the end.
Chide thou no more, O thou unsacrificed!
The soldier dying dies upon a kiss,
The very kiss of Christ.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 09, 2023

56 sec read
89

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABAX CDCDEE FGFGHH IJIJKK LMMALX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,049
Words 188
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

Alice Meynell

Alice Christiana Gertrude Meynell was an English writer, editor, critic, and suffragist, now remembered mainly as a poet. more…

All Alice Meynell poems | Alice Meynell Books

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