Fly Leaves

Transcribed from the 1884 Deighton, Bell, and Co. edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
C. S. CALVERLEY, AUTHOR OF “VERSES AND TRANSLATIONS.”
TENTH THOUSAND .
CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO. LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS. 1884
CHISWICK PRESS:—C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.
’Tis the hour when white-horsed Day Chases Night her mares away; When the Gates of Dawn (they say) Phœbus opes: And I gather that the Queen May be uniformly seen, Should the weather be serene, On the slopes.
When the ploughman, as he goes Leathern-gaitered o’er the snows, From his hat and from his nose Knocks the ice; And the panes are frosted o’er, And the lawn is crisp and hoar, As has been observed before Once or twice.
When arrayed in breastplate red Sings the robin, for his bread, On the elmtree that hath shed Every leaf; While, within, the frost benumbs The still sleepy schoolboy’s thumbs, And in consequence his sums Come to grief.
But when breakfast-time hath come, And he’s crunching crust and crumb, He’ll no longer look a glum Little dunce; But be brisk as bees that settle On a summer rose’s petal: Wherefore, Polly, put the kettle On at once.
Kate! if e’er thy light foot lingers On the lawn, when up the fells Steals the Dark, and fairy fingers Close unseen the pimpernels: When, his thighs with sweetness laden, From the meadow comes the bee, And the lover and the maiden Stand beneath the trysting tree:—
Lingers on, till stars unnumber’d Tremble in the breeze-swept tarn, And the bat that all day slumber’d Flits about the lonely barn; And the shapes that shrink from garish Noon are peopling cairn and lea; And thy sire is almost bearish If kept waiting for his tea:—
And the screech-owl scares the peasant As he skirts some churchyard drear; And the goblins whisper pleasant Tales in Miss Rossetti’s ear; Importuning her in strangest, Sweetest tones to buy their fruits:— O be careful that thou changest, On returning home, thy boots.