..===READY TO RECEIVE===
?=?

.type shrop.jdo
#$ $# %%1887
From Clee to heaven the beacon burns ,
The shires have seen it plain ,
From north and south the sign returns
And beacons burn again . .. !!
Look left , look right , the hills are bright ,
The dales are light between ,
Because ''tis fifty years to - night
That God has saved the Queen . .. !!
Now , when the flame they watch not towers
About the soil they trod ,
Lads , we''ll remember friends of ours
Who shared the work with God . .. !!
To skies that knit their heartstrings right ,
To fields that bred them brave ,
The saviours come not home to - night :
Themselves they could not save . .. !!
It dawns in Asia , tombstones show
And Shropshire names are read ;
And the Nile spills his overflow
Beside the Severn''s dead . .. !!
#S We pledge in peace by farm and town
The Queen they served in war ,
And fire the beacons up and down
The land they perished for . .. !!
/'God save the Queen'/ we living sing ,
From height to height ''tis heard ;
And with the rest your voices ring ,
Lads of the Fifty - third . .. !!
Oh , God will save her , fear you not :
Be you the men you''ve been ,
Get you the sons your fathers got ,
And God will save the Queen . .. !!
#$ $# Loveliest of trees , the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough ,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide . .. !!
Now , of my threescore years and ten ,
Twenty will not come again ,
And take from seventy springs a score ,
It only leaves me fifty more . .. !!
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room ,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow . .. !!
#$ $# %%The Recruit
Leave you home behind , lad ,
And reach you friends your hand ,
And go , and luck go with you
While Ludlow tower shall stand . .. !!
Oh , come you home of Sunday
When Ludlow streets are still
And Ludlow bells are calling
To farm and lane and mill , !!
Or come you home of Monday
When Ludlow market hums
And Ludlow chimes are playing
/'The conquering hero comes'/ , !!
Come you home a hero ,
Or come not home at all ,
The lads you leave will mind you
Till Ludlow tower shall fall . .. !!
And you will list the bugle
That blows in lands of morn ,
And make the foes of England
Be sorry you were born . .. !!
#$ And you will trump of doomsday
On lands of morn may lie ,
And make the hearts of comrades
Be heavy where you die . .. !!
Leave your home behind you ,
Your friends by field and town . .. !!
Oh , town and field will mind you
Till Ludlow tower is down . .. !!
#$ $# %%Reveille
Wake : the silver dusk returning
Up the beach of darkness brims ,
And the ship of sunrise burning
Strands upon the eastern rims . .. !!
Wake :  the vaulted shadow shatters ,
Trampled to the floor it spanned ,
And the tent of night in tatters
Straws the sky - pavilioned land . .. !!
Up , lad , up , ''tis late for lying :
Hear the drums of morning play ;
Hark , the empty highways crying
/'Who''ll beyond the hills away  ? '/ .. !!
Towns and countries woo together ,
Forelands beacon , belfries call ;
Never lad that trod on leather
Lived to feast his heart with all . .. !!
Up , lad :  thews that lie and cumber
Sunlit pallets never thrive ;
Morns abed and daylight slumber
Were not meant for man alive . .. !!
Clay lies still , but blood''s a rover ;
Breath''s a ware that will not keep . ..
Up , lad :  when the journey''s over
There''ll be time enough to sleep . .. !!
#$ $# Oh see how thick the goldcup flowers
Are lying in field and lane ,
With dandelions to tell the hours
That never are told again . ..
Oh may I squire you round the meads
And pick you posies gay ?
-- ''Twill do no harm to take my arm . ..
/'You may , young man , you may . '/ .. !!
Ah , spring was sent for lass and lad ,
''Tis now the blood runs gold ,
And man and maid had best be glad
Before the world is old . ..
What kIM to - day may flower to - morrow ,
But never as good as new . ..
-- Suppose I wound my arm right round --
/' ''Tis true , young man , ''tis true . '/ .. !!
Some lads there are , ''tis shame to say ,
That only court to thieve ,
And once they bear the bloom away
''Tis little enough they leave . ..
Then keep your heart for men like me
And safe from trustless chaps . ..
My love is true and all for you . ..
/'Perhaps , young man , perhaps . '/ .. !!
#$ Oh , look in my eyes then , can you doubt ? ..
-- Why , ''tis a mile from town . ..
How green the grass is all about ! ..
We might as well sit down . ..
-- Ah , life , what is it but a flower ? ..
Why must true lovers sigh ? ..
Be kind , have pity , my own , my pretty , --
/'Good - bye , young man , good - bye . '/ .. !!
#$ $# When the lad for longing sighs ,
Mute and dull of cheer and pale ,
If at death''s own door he lies ,
Maiden , you can heal his ail . .. !!
Lovers'' ills are all to buy :
The wan look , the hollow tone ,
The hung head , the sunken eye ,
You can have them for your own . .. !!
Buy them , buy them : eve and morn
Lover''s ills are all to sell . ..
Then you can lie down forlorn ;
But the lover will be well . .. !!
#$ $# When smoke stood up from Ludlow ,
And mist blew off from Teme ,
And blithe afield to ploughing
Against the morning beam
I strode beside my team , !!
The blackbird in the coppice
Looked out to see me stride ,
And hearkened as I whistled
The trampling team beside ,
And fluted and replied : !!
/'Lie down , lie down , young yeoman ;
What use to rise and rise ? ..
Rise man a thousand mornings
Yet down at last he lies ,
And then the man is wise . '/ .. !!
I hear the tune he sang me ,
And spied his yellow bill ;
I picked a stone and aimed it
And threw it with a will :
Then the bird was still . .. !!
Then my soul within me
Took up the blackbird''s strain ,
And still beside the horses
Along the dewy lane
It sang the song again : !!
#$ /'Lie down , lie down , young yeoman ;
The sun moves always west ;
The road one treads to labour
Will lead one home to rest ,
And that will be the best . '/ .. !!
#$ $# /'Farewell to barn and stack and tree ,
Farewell to Severn shore . ..
Terence , look your last at me ,
For I come home no more . .. !!
The sun burns on the half - mown hill ,
By now the blood is dried ;
And Maurice amongst the hay lies still
And my knife is in his side . .. !!
My mother thinks us long away ;
''Tis time the field were mown . ..
She had two sons at rising day ,
To - night she''ll be alone . .. !!
And here''s a bloody hand to shake ,
And oh , man , here''s good - bye ;
We''ll sweat no more on scythe and rake ,
My bloody hands and I . .. !!
I wish you strength to bring you pride ,
And a love to keep you clean ,
And I wish you luck , come Lammastide ,
At racing on the green . .. !!
Long for ''me the rick will wait ,
And long will wait the fold ,
And long will stand the empty plate ,
And dinner will be cold . '/ .. !!
#$ $# On moonlit heath and lonesome bank
The sheep beside me graze ;
And yon the gallows used to clank
Fast by the four cross ways . .. !!
A careless shepherd once would keep
The flocks by moonlight there ,
And high amongst the glimmering sheep
The dead man stood on air . .. !!
They hang us now in Shrewsbury jail :
The whistles blow forlorn ,
And trains all night groan on the rail
To men that die at morn . .. !!
There sleeps in Shrewsbury jail to - night ,
Or wakes , as may betide ,
A better lad , if things went right ,
Than most that sleep outside . .. !!
And naked to the hangman''s noose
The morning clocks will ring
A neck God made for other use
Than strangling in a string . .. !!
And sharp the link of life will snap ,
And dead on air will stand
Heels that held up as straight a chap
As treads upon the land . .. !!
#$ So here I''ll watch the night and wait
To see the morning shine ,
When he will hear the stroke of eight
And not the stroke of nine ; !!
And wish my friend as sound a sleep
As lads'' I did not know ,
That shepherded the moonlit sheep
A hundred years ago . .. !!
#$ $# %%March
The Sun at noon to higher air ,
Unharnessing the silver Pair
That late before his chariot swam ,
Rides on the gold wool of the Ram . .. !!
So braver notes the storm - clock sings
To start the rusted wheel of things ,
And brutes in field and brutes in pen
Leap that the world goes round again . .. !!
The boys are up the woods with day
To fetch the daffodils away ,
And home at noonday from the hills
The bring no dearth of daffodils . .. !!
Afield for palms the girls repair ,
And sure enough the palms are there ,
And each will find by hedge or pond
Her waving silver - tufted wand . .. !!
In farm and field through all the shire
The eye beholds the heart''s desire ;
Ah , let not only mine be vain ,
For lovers should be loved again . .. !!
#$ $# On your midnight pallet lying ,
Listen , and undo the door :
Lads that waste the light in sighing
In the dark should sigh no more ;
Night should ease a lover''s sorrow ;
Therefore , since I go to - morrow ,
Pity me before . .. !!
In the land to which I travel ,
The far dwelling , let me say --
Once , if here the couch is gravel ,
In a kinder bed I lay ,
And the breast the darnel smothers
Rested once upon another''s
When it was not clay . .. !!
#$ $# When I watch the living meet ,
And the moving pageant file
Warm and breathing through the street
Where I lodge a little while , !!
If the heats of hate and lust
In the house of flesh are strong ,
Let me mind the house of dust
Where my sojourn shall be long . .. !!
In the nation that is not
Nothing stands that stood before ;
There revenges are forgot ,
And the hater hates no more ; !!
Lovers lying two and two
Ask not whom they sleep beside ,
And the bridegroom all night through
Never turns him to the bride . .. !!
#$ $# When I was one - and - twenty
I heard a wise man say ,
/'Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away ;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free . '/ ..
But I was one - and - twenty
No use to talk to me . .. !!
When I was one - and - twenty
I heard him say again ,
/'The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain ;
''Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue . '/ ..
And I am two - and - twenty ,
And oh , ''tis true , ''tis true . .. !!
#$ $# There pass the careless people
That call their souls their own :
Here by the road I loiter ,
How idle and alone . .. !!
Ah , past the plunge of plummet ,
In seas I cannot sound ,
My heart and soul and senses ,
World without end , are drowned . .. !!
His folly has not fellow
Beneath the blue of day
That gives to man or woman
His heart and soul away . .. !!
There flowers no balm to sain him
From east of earth to west
That''s lost for everlasting
The heart out of his breast . .. !!
Here by the labouring highway
With empty hands I stroll :
Sea - deep , till doomsday morning ,
Lie lost my heart and soul . .. !!
#$ $# Look not in my eyes , for fear
They mirror true the sight I see ,
And there you find your face too clear
And love it and be lost like me . ..
One the long nights through must lie
Spent in star - defeated sighs ,
But why should you as well as I
Perish ? .. gaze not in my eyes . .. !!
A Grecian lad , as I hear tell ,
One that many loved in vain ,
Looked into a forest well
And never looked away again . ..
There , when the turf in springtime flowers ,
With downward eye and gazes sad ,
Stands amid the glancing showers
A jonquil , not a Grecian lad . .. !!
#$ $# It nods and curtseys and recovers
When the wind blows above ,
The nettle on the graves of lovers
That hanged themselves for love . .. !!
The nettle nods , the wind blows over ,
The man , he does not move ,
The lover of the grave , the lover
That hanged himself for love . .. !!
#$ $# Twice a week the winter thorough
Here stood I to keep the goal :
Football then was fighting sorrow
For the young man''s soul . .. !!
Now in Maytime to the wicket
Out I march with bat and pad :
See the son of grief at cricket
Trying to be glad . .. !!
Try I will ; no harm in trying :
Wonder ''tis how little mirth
Keeps the bones of man from lying
On the bed of earth . .. !!
#$ $# Oh , when I was in love with you ,
Then I was clean and brave ,
And miles around the wonder grew
How well did I behave . .. !!
And now the fancy passes by ,
And nothing will remain ,
And miles around they''ll say that I
Am quite myself again . .. !!
#$ $# %%To An Athlete Dying Young
The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market - place ;
Man and boy stood cheering by ,
And home we brought you shoulder - high . .. !!
To - day , the road all runners come ,
Shoulder - high we bring you home ,
And set you at your threshold down ,
Townsman of a stiller town . .. !!
Smart lad , to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay
And early though the laurel growns
It withers quicker than the rose . .. !!
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut ,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears : !!
Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out ,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man . .. !!
#$ So set , before its echoes fade ,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade ,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still - defended challenge - cup . .. !!
And round that early - laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead ,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl''s . .. !!
#$ $# Oh fair enough are sky and plain ,
But I know fairer far :
Those are as beautiful again
That in the water are ; !!
The pools and rivers wash so clean
The trees and clouds and air ,
The like on earth was never seen ,
And oh that I were there . .. !!
There are the thoughts I often think
As I stand gazing down
In act upon the cressy brink
To strip and dive and drown ; !!
But in the golden - sanded brooks
And azure meres I spy
A silly lad that longs and looks
And wishes he were I . .. !!
#$ $# %%Bredon Hill
In summertime on Bredon
The bells they sound so clear ;
Round both the shires they ring them
In steeples far and near ,
A happy noise to hear . .. !!
Here of a Sunday morning
My love and I would lie ,
And see the coloured counties ,
And hear the larks so high
About us in the sky . .. !!
The bells would ring to call her
In valleys miles away :
/'Come all to church , good people ;
Good people , come and pray . '/
But here my love would stay . .. !!
And I would turn and answer
Among the springing thyme ,
/'Oh , peal upon our wedding ,
And we will hear the chime ,
And come to church in time . '/ ..
#$ But when the snows at Christmas
On Bredon top were strown ,
My love rose up so early
And stole out unbeknown
And went to church alone . .. !!
They tolled the one bell only ,
Groom there was none to see ,
The mourners followed after ,
And so to church went she ,
And would not wait for me . .. !!
The bells they sound on Bredon ,
And still the steeples hum . ..
/'Come all to church , good people , '/ --
Oh , noisy bells , be dumb ;
I hear you , I will come . .. !!
#$ $# The street sounds to the soldier''s tread ,
And out we troop to see :
A single redcoat turns his head ,
He turns and looks at me . .. !!
My man , from sky to sky''s so far ,
We never crossed before ;
Such leagues apart the world''s ends are ,
We''re like to meet no more ; !!
What thoughts at heart have you and I
We cannot stop to tell ;
But dead or living , drunk or dry ,
Soldier , I wish you well . .. !!
#$ $# The lads in their hundreds to Ludlow come in for the fair ,
There''s men from the barn and the forge and the mill and the fold ,
The lads for the girls and the lads for the liquor are there ,
And there with the rest are the lads that will never be old . .. !!
There''s chaps from the town and the field and the till and the cart ,
And many to count are the stalwart , and many the brave ,
And many the handsome of face and the handsome of heart ,
And few that will carry their looks or their truth to the grave . .. !!
I wish one could know them , I wish there were tokens to tell
The fortunate fellows that now you can never discern ;
And then one could talk with them friendly and wish them farewell
And watch them depart on the way that they will not return . .. !!
But now you may stare as you like and there''s nothing to scan ;
And brushing your elbow unguessed - at and not to be told
They carry back bright to the coiner the mintage of man ,
The lads that will die in their glory and never be old . .. !!
#$ $# Say , lad , have you things to do ? ..
Quick them , while your day''s at prime . ..
Quick , and if ''tis work for two ,
Here am I , man : now's your time . .. !!
Send me now , and I shall go ;
Call me , I shall hear you call ;
Use me ere they lay me low
Where a man''s no use at all ; !!
Ere the wholesome flesh decay ,
And the willing nerve be numb ,
And the lips lack breath to say ,
/'No , my lad , I cannot come . '/ .. !!
#$ $# This time of year a twelvemonth past ,
When Fred and I would meet ,
We needs must jangle , till at last
We fought and I was beat . .. !!
So then the summer fields about ,
Till rainy days began ,
Rose Harland on her Sundays out
Walked with the better man . .. !!
The better man she walks with still ,
Thou now ''tis not with Fred :
A lad that lives and has his will
Is worth a dozen dead . .. !!
Fred keeps the house all kinds of weather ,
And clay''s the house he keeps ;
When Rose and I walk out together
Stock - still lies Fred and sleeps . .. !!
#$ $# Along the field as we came by
A year ago , my love and I ,
The aspen over stile and stone
Was talking to itself alone . ..
/'Oh who are these that kiss and pass ? ..
A country lover and his lass ;
Two lovers looking to be wed ;
And time shall put them both to bed ,
But she shall lie with earth above ,
And he beside another love . '/ .. !!
And sure enough beneath the tree
There walks another love with me ,
And overhead the aspen heaves
Its rainy - sounding silver leaves ;
And I spell nothing in their stir ,
But now perhaps they speak to her ,
And plain for her to understand
They talk about a time at hand
When I shall sleep with clover clad ,
And she beside another lad . .. !!
#$ $# /' Is my team ploughing ,
That I was used to drive
And hear the harness jingle
When I was man alive ? '/ .. !!
Ay , the horses trample ,
The harness jingles now ;
Now change though you lie under
The land you used to plough . .. !!
/' Is football playing
Along the river shore ,
With lads to chase the leather ,
Now I stand up no more ? '/ .. !!
Ay , the ball is flying ,
The lads play heart and soul ;
The goal stands up , the keeper
Stands up to keep the goal . .. !!
/' Is my girl happy ,
That I thought hard to leave ,
And has she tired of weeping
As she lies down at eve ? '/ .. !!
Ay , she lies down lightly ,
She lies not down to weep :
Your girl is well contented . ..
Be still , my lad , and sleep . .. !!
#$ /' Is my friend hearty ,
Now I am thin and pine ,
And has he found to sleep in
A better bed than mine ? '/ .. !!
Yes , lad , I lie easy ,
I lie as lads would choose ;
I cheer a dead man''s sweetheart ,
Never ask me whose . .. !!
#$ $# %%The Welsh Marches
High the vanes of Shrewsbury gleam
Islanded in Severn stream ;
The bridges from the steepled crest
Cross the water east and west . .. !!
The flag of morn in conqueror''s state
Enters at the English gate :
The vanquished eve , as night prevails ,
Bleeds upon the road to Wales . .. !!
Ages since the vanquished bled
Round my mother''s marriage - bed ;
Ther the ravens feasted far
About the open house of war : !!
When Severn down to Buildwas ran
Coloured with the death of man ,
Couched upon her brother''s grave
The Saxon got me on the slave . .. !!
The sound of fight is silent long
That began the ancient wrong ;
Long the voice of tears is still
That wept of old the endless ill . .. !!
#$ In my heart it has not died ,
The war that sleeps on Severn side ;
They cease not fighting , east and west ,
On the marches of my breast . .. !!
Here the truceless armies yet
Trample , rolled in blood and sweat ;
They kill and kill and never die ;
And I think that each is I . .. !!
None will part us , none undo
The knot that makes one flesh of two ,
Sick with hatred , sick with pain ,
Strangling -- When shall we be slain ? .. !!
When shall I be dead and rid
Of the wrong my father did ? ..
How long , how long , till spade and hearse
Put to sleep my mother''s curse ? .. !!
#$ $# %%The Lent Lilly
''Tis spring ; come out to ramble
The hilly brakes around ,
For under thorn and bramble
About the hollow ground
The primroses are found . .. !!
And there''s the windflower chilly
With all the winds at play ,
And there''s the Lenten lily
That has not long to stay
And dies on Easter day . .. !!
And since till girls go maying
You find the primrose still ,
And find the windflower playing
With every wind at will ,
But not the daffodil , !!
Bring baskets now , and sally
Upon the spring''s array ,
And bear from hill and valley
The daffodil away
That dies on Easter day . .. !!
#$ $# Others , I am not the first ,
Have willed more mischief that they durst :
If in the breathless night I too
Shiver now , ''tis nothing new . .. !!
More than I , if truth were told ,
Have stood and sweated hot and cold ,
And through their reins in ice and fire
Fear contended with desire . .. !!
Agued once like me were they ,
But I like them shall win my way
Lastly to the bed of mould
Where there''s neither heat nor cold . .. !!
But from my grave across my brow
Plays no wind of healing now ,
And fire and ice within me fight
Beneath the suffocating night . .. !!
#$ $# On Wenlock Edge the wood''s in trouble ;
His forest fleece the Wrekin heaves ;
The gale , it plies the saplings double ,
And thick on Severn snow the leaves . .. !!
''Twould blow like this through holt and hanger
When Uricon the city stood :
''Tis the old wind in the old anger ,
But then it threshed another wood . .. !!
Then , ''twas before my time , the Roman
At yonder heaving hill would stare :
The blood that warms an English yeoman ,
The thoughts that hurt him , they were there . .. !!
There , like the wind through woods in riot ,
Through him the gale of life blew high ;
The tree of man was never quiet :
Then ''twas the Roman , now ''tis I . .. !!
The gale , it plies the saplings double ,
It blows so hard , ''twill soon be gone :
To - day the Roman and his trouble
Are ashes under Uricon . .. !!
#$ $# From far , from eve and morning
And yon twelve - winded sky ,
The stuff of life to knit me
Blew hither : here am I. .. !!
Now -- for a breath I tarry
Nor yet disperse apart --
Take my hand quick and tell me ,
What have you in your heart . .. !!
Speak now , and I will answer ;
How shall I help you , say ;
Ere to the wind''s twelve quarters
I take my endless way . .. !!

.now , and I will answ