Tottering and tired thou art, my man,
Tha came to say good-bye to me,
An’ tha’s done it so well, that now I can
Part wi’ thee.
—Master, I’m givin’ thee summat.
THE SCHOOLMASTER [p. lix]
I
A Snowy Day in School
All the slow school hours, round the irregular hum of the class,
Have pressed immeasurable spaces of hoarse silence
Muffling my mind, as snow muffles the sounds that pass