Do you know Branch Hill? There are steps to the right
When you reach the top, which climb to a walk
Shaded by elm-trees of great girth and height;
And there are seats there, where lovers talk.
And all in front is a valley, wide and deep—
In summer a place of murmurs and laughing sighs:
In winter a sea of mists and deathly sleep,
Pierced by faint sobs and drowning, desolate cries....
V
It rained, the wet poured from the leaves;