Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

Robert Bridges. b. 1844

839. Winter Nightfall

THE day begins to droop,—
Its course is done:
But nothing tells the place
Of the setting sun.
The hazy darkness deepens,	5
And up the lane
You may hear, but cannot see,
The homing wain.
An engine pants and hums
In the farm hard by:	10
Its lowering smoke is lost
In the lowering sky.
The soaking branches drip,
And all night through
The dropping will not cease	15
In the avenue.
A tall man there in the house
Must keep his chair:
He knows he will never again
Breathe the spring air:	20
His heart is worn with work;
He is giddy and sick
If he rise to go as far
As the nearest rick:
He thinks of his morn of life,	25
His hale, strong years;
And braves as he may the night
Of darkness and tears.