Poems of To-Day: an Anthology

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POEMS OF TO-DAY:

an Anthology.

London: Published for the English Association by Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd., 1918

First issued in August, 1915;
Reprinted October, 1915; January, March,
June, September, and December, 1916;
May, July, September, October, 1917,
January, February, and July, 1918.

{vii}

PREFATORY NOTE

This book has been compiled in order that boys and girls, already perhaps familiar with the great classics of the English speech, may also know something of the newer poetry of their own day. Most of the writers are living, and the rest are still vivid memories among us, while one of the youngest, almost as these words are written, has gone singing to lay down his life for his country's cause. Although no definite chronological limit has been set, and Meredith at least began to write in the middle of the nineteenth century, the intention has been to represent mainly those poetic tendencies which have become dominant as the influence of the accepted Victorian masters has grown weaker, and from which the poetry of the future, however it may develope, must in turn take its start. It may be helpful briefly to indicate the sequence of themes. Man draws his being from the heroic Past and from the Earth his Mother; and in harmony with these he must shape his life to what high purposes he may. Therefore this gathering of poems falls into three groups. {viii} First there are poems of History, of the romantic tale of the world, of our own special tradition here in England, and of the inheritance of obligation which that tradition imposes upon us. Naturally, there are some poems directly inspired by the present war, but nothing, it is hoped, which may not, in happier days, bear translation into any European tongue. Then there come poems of the Earth, of England again and the longing of the exile for home, of this and that familiar countryside, of woodland and meadow and garden, of the process of the seasons, of the "open road" and the "wind on the heath," of the city, its deprivations and its consolations. Finally there are poems of Life itself, of the moods in which it may be faced, of religion, of man's excellent virtues, of friendship and childhood, of passion, grief, and comfort. But there is no arbitrary isolation of one theme from another; they mingle and inter-penetrate throughout, to the music of Pan's flute, and of Love's viol, and the bugle-call of Endeavour, and the passing-bell of Death.

May, 1915.

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INDEX OF AUTHORS

PAGE
A. E. (GEORGE RUSSELL)
Shadows and Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

ABERCROMBIE, LASCELLES
Margaret's Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

BEECHING, H. C.
Fatherhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Prayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

BELLOC, HILAIRE
  Courtesy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
  From "Dedicatory Ode" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
  The South Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

BINYON, LAURENCE
  Bab-lock-hythe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
  England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
  For the Fallen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  In misty blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
  O summer sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
  The Little Dancers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
  The Road Menders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

BLUNT, W. S.
  A Day in Sussex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
  Chanclebury Ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
  St. Valentine's Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

BRIDGES, ROBERT
  Awake, my heart, to be loved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
  Elegy on a Lady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
  I love all beauteous things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
  I never shall love the snow again . . . . . . . . . . . 148
  I will not let thee go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
  London Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

{x}

  On a Dead Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
  Spring goeth all in white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
  The hill pines were sighing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
  There is a hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
  When June is come . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

BROOKE, RUPERT
  The Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  The Old Vicarage, Grantchester . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
  The Soldier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

CANTON, WILLIAM
Heights and Depths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

CHALMERS, P. R.
Roundabouts and Swings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

CHESTERTON, G. K.
The Praise of Dust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

COLERIDGE, MARY E.
  A Huguenot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
  Chillingham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  Gibberish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
  Street Lanterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
  Where a Roman Villa stood, above Freiburg . . . . . . . 33

COLUM, PADRAIC
A Cradle Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

CORNFORD, FRANCES
Pre-existence
To a Lady seen from the Train . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

CRIPPS, A. S.
  A Lyke-wake Carol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  A Refrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  Essex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

DAVIDSON, JOHN
  A Cinque Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
  In Romney Marsh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
  London . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

DAVIES, W. H.
  Days that have been . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
  Early Morn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
  Leisure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

{xi}

DE LA MARE, WALTER
  All that's Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
  An Epitaph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
  Martha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
  Nod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
  The Scarecrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

DRINKWATER, JOHN
  A Town Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
  Mamble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
  The Defenders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

FLECKER, J. E.
A ship, an isle, a sickle moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Brumana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

GOSSE, EDMUND
Lying in the Grass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Philomel in London . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

GOULD, GERALD
  Fallen Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  Oxford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
  'Tis but a week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

HODGSON, RALPH
Time, you old gipsy man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

HOUSMAN, LAURENCE
Annus Mirabilis (1902) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

JOHNSON, LIONEL
  A Friend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
  By the Statue of King Charles at Charing Cross . . . . . 10
  The Precept of Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

KIPLING, RUDYARD
Sussex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The Flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

LESLIE, SHANE
Fleet Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

MACAULAY, ROSE
Many Sisters to Many Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The Devourers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

MACKAIL, J. W.
On the Death of Arnold Toynbee . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

{xii}

MASEFIELD, JOHN
  Beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
  By a Bier-side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
  Fragments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  Laugh and be merry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
  Tewkesbury Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
  Twilight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

MEREDITH, GEORGE
  Juggling Jerry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
  From "Love in the Valley" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
  Lucifer in Starlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
  The Lark Ascending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

MEYNELL, ALICE
  A Dead Harvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
  At Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
  Chimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
  November Blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
  Parted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
  The Lady Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
  The Shepherdess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
  To a Daisy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
  To the Beloved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

MOORE, T. STURGE
  Idleness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
  Renaissance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
  Rower's Chant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

NEWBOLT, SIR HENRY
  Drake's Drum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  He Fell among Thieves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  Minora Sidera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  The Volunteer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
  VitaÏ Lampada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

NICHOLS, J. B. B.
On the Toilet Table of Queen Marie-Antoinette . . . . . 9

NOYES, ALFRED
The moon is up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

QUILLER-COUCH, SIR A. T.
Alma Mater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Upon Eckington Bridge, River Avon . . . . . . . . . . . 9

{xiii}

RADFORD, ERNEST
Plymouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

SMITH, ADA
In City Streets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

STEVENSON, R. L.
  I will make you brooches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
  If this were Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
  In the Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  My Wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
  Requiem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
  The Celestial Surgeon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
  The House Beautiful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
  The Vagabond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
  To S. R. Crockett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  To Will H. Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
  Youth and Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

SYMONS, ARTHUR
  In Fountain Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
  In the Meadows at Mantua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
  Montserrat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

THOMPSON, FRANCIS
  All Flesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
  Daisy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
  Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
  The Kingdom of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
  To a Snowflake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
  To my Godchild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

TRENCH, HERBERT
Musing on a Great Soldier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
O dreamy, gloomy, friendly Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

TYNAN, KATHARINE
  Farewell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
  The Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
  The Old Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

WATSON, WILLIAM
Estrangement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Ode in May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

WOODS, MARGARET L.
Gaudeamus Igitur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
To the Forgotten Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

{xiv}

YEATS, W. B.
  A Dream of a Blessed Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
  A Dream of Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
  Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven . . . . . . . . . . 156
  Down by the galley gardens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
  Into the Twilight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
  The Folly of being Comforted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
  The Lake Isle of Inisfree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
  When you are Old . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

For permission to use copyright poems the English Association is greatly indebted to the authors; to the literary executors of Mary Coleridge (Sir Henry Newbolt), J. E. Flecker (Mrs. Flecker), Lionel Johnson (Mr. Elkin Mathews), George Meredith (Trustees, through Mr. W. M. Meredith), R. L. Stevenson (Mr. Lloyd Osbourne), Arthur Symons (through Mr. Edmund Gosse), and Francis Thompson (Mr. Wilfrid Meynell); and to the following publishers in respect of the poems enumerated:

Mr. B. H. Blackwell:
A. S. Cripps, Lyra Evangelistica (Nos. 25, 26, 39).

Messrs. W. Blackwood & Sons:
Alfred Noyes, Drake (No. 12).

Mr. A. H. Bullen:
W. B. Yeats, Poems (Nos. 101, 133, 146).

Messrs. Burns & Oates:
  Francis Thompson, Works (Nos. 105, 106, 110, 123, 127, 145).
  Alice Meynell, Collected Poems (Nos. 62, 74, 81, 107, 111, 115,
      137, 140, 147).
  Shane Leslie, Eyes of Youth (No. 84).

Messrs. Chatto & Windus:
  R. L. Stevenson, Underwoods (Nos. 51, 73, 90, 109), and
                   Songs of Travel (Nos. 29, 32, 68, 71, 94,
                      96, 135).

Messrs. Constable & Co.:
Walter de la Mare, The Listeners (Nos. 1, 61, 67, 117, 142).

{xv}

Messrs. J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd.:
W. Canton, The Comrades (No. 28).
G. K. Chesterton, The Wild Knight (No. 131).

Messrs. Duckworth & Co.:
Hilaire Belloc, Verses (Nos. 35, 45, 112).
T. Sturge Moore, The Gazelles (Nos. 89, 93).

Mr. A. O. Fifield:
W. H. Davies, Songs of Joy (Nos. 48, 86), and
Nature Poems (No. 53).

Messrs. Max Goschen, Ltd.:
J. E. Flecker, The Golden Journey to Samarcand* (Nos. 24, 60).

Mr. William Heinemann:
  W. S. Blunt, Poetry of (Nos. 36, 64, 65).
  Edmund Gosse, Collected Poems (Nos. 82, 87).
  Arthur Symons, Poems (Nos. 85, 113, 130).

Mr. John Lane:
  L. Abercrombie, Interludes and Poems (No. 31).
  John Davidson, Ballads and Songs (Nos. 37, 38, 80).
  William Watson, The Hope of the World (Nos. 66, 121).
  Margaret L. Woods, Lyrics and Ballads (Nos. 10, 91).

Mr. Elkin Mathews:
  Laurence Binyon, Poems (1894), (No. 79),
                   London Visions (Nos. 75, 77), and
                   England (Nos. 16, 57, 129).
  Lionel Johnson, Poems (Nos. 9, 95, 118).

Messrs. Maunsel & Co.:
P. R. Chalmers, Green Days and Blue Days (No. 99).
Padraic Colum, Wild Earth (No. 124).

Messrs. Methuen & Co.:
  Rudyard Kipling, The Seven Seas (No. 50), and
                   The Five Nations (No. 34).
  Sir A. T. Quiller-Couch, Poems and Ballads (No. 8), and
                           The Vigil of Venus (No. 44).
  Herbert Trench, New Poems (Nos. 14, 92).

{xvi}

Messrs. Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd.:
  Rupert Brooke, 1914 and Other Poems (Nos. 20, 21, 47).
  John Drinkwater, Swords and Ploughshares (Nos. 19, 40, 41).
  Laurence Housman, Selected Poems (No. 83).
  Rose Macaulay, The Two Blind Countries (No. 46).

Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co.:
Robert Bridges, Poetical Works (Nos. 54, 56, 63, 76, 104, 125,
126, 128, 132, 139, 141).

Messrs. T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd.:
Ernest Radford, Poems (No. 42).
W. B. Yeats, Poems (Nos. 49, 88, 138, 143, 144).

The Poetry Book Shop (through Mr. Harold Monro).
Ralph Hodgson, Eve (No. 5).

* Now transferred to Mr. Martin Seeker.

The Editor of The Times courteously confirmed the permissions given by Mr. George Russell ("A. E.") in respect of No. 23, and by Mr. Laurence Binyon in respect of No. 22—the latter being reprinted in The Winnowing Fan (Elkin Mathews).

The Association desires also to acknowledge the generosity with which authors and publishers have waived or reduced customary copyright fees, in view of the special objects of their organisation. They regret that considerations of copyright have rendered it impossible to include poems by T. E. Brown, Thomas Hardy, W. E. Henley, and A. E. Housman.

{1}

POEMS OF TO-DAY

1. ALL THAT'S PAST

  Very old are the woods;
    And the buds that break
  Out of the briar's boughs,
    When March winds wake,
  So old with their beauty are—
    Oh, no man knows
  Through what wild centuries
    Roves back the rose.

  Very old are the brooks;
    And the rills that rise
  Where snow sleeps cold beneath
    The azure skies
  Sing such a history
    Of come and gone,
  Their every drop is as wise
    As Solomon.

  Very old are we men;
    Our dreams are tales
  Told in dim Eden
    By Eve's nightingales;

{2}

  We wake and whisper awhile,
    But, the day gone by,
  Silence and sleep like fields
    Of amaranth lie.

Walter de la Mare.

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