Horizons and landmarks

by Sidney Royse Lysaght

FIRST HORIZONS

An open window filled with blue,
The scent of meadows wet with dew,
The talk of rooks beyond the park,
A cart wheel’s creak, a sheep-dog’s bark,
Greeted our waking: then we sped
Along the rushy path that led
Down to the peat-brown river pool,
And, glowing, dived through ripples cool,
While startled coots in skimming flight
Slipped among sedges out of sight,
Or from his lonely watch the crane
Rose on slow wings; then out again
And home to breakfast. Oh, the smell
Of furze bloom and bog-asphodel
Along the track! but still more sweet
The fragrance of the cakes of wheat,
The tea, the toast, the home-baked bread,
The roasted apples, all outspread
On damask white. Anon, our chairs
Pushed back, we knelt for morning prayers,
And, planning new adventures, heard
The voice devout but not the word.
No lingering then;—a hundred things,
New schemes, imagined happenings,
Called us away to wood and field—
For any hour of life might yield
Some wonder, some unthought of bliss,
Some miracle we dared not miss.
And gladness, hidden in the springs
Of purpose at the heart of things,
Showed us a world where work was play,
And common labours of the day
Sweet service; but we knew not then
The burdens men have laid on men,—
Nay, only those perennial tasks
Which earth of all her children asks
For fruitfulness; and glad were we
Of that good fellowship to be;
Nor sought more honour than to share
The sower’s toil, the shepherd’s care.
But most we loved the merry ring
Of whetted scythes, the rhythmic swing
Of mowers, and with fork and rake
All day to follow in their wake;
And homeward in the eventide
On the piled waggon load to ride,
While, half asleep amid the hay,
Dim fields we saw and uplands grey,
And heard beneath our swaying load
The rumbling wheel along the road.

No need had we the world to roam
To find new shores, for round our home
Our undiscovered lands arose
In autumn mists, in winter snows.
On summer nights in whispering trees
We heard the wash of Indian seas,
And ripening waves of harvest rolled
Over our hills the realms of gold;
And flood-time mapped familiar lands
With island shores and foreign strands;
And tidings of unventured ways
We gathered in the darkening days
When leafless woods began to moan
And twilight opened gates unknown.
A narrower, homelier world we knew
In winter time, and kinder grew
The sheltering bounds of landmarks old;
And, gathered within farm and fold,
The sound of voices and the stir
Of labour seemed the merrier
Because so lonely and so wide
And homeless was the world outside.
Then we discovered golden shores,
Our El Dorado’s treasure stores,
Amid the piled up sheaves of grain
Within the barn; and while the rain
Beat on the roofs we burrowed deep
In rustling caves, or from the heap
Threw down our golden citadel,
While girls unbound the sheaves that fell
For threshing, and as each new load
Between the spinning rollers flowed,
The hum of wheels, the engine’s drone
A sudden octave fell in tone;
And grain was stored, and billows soft
Of straw went rolling to the loft,
And out on skies of cheerless grey
The winnowed chaff was blown away.

But after days of winter rains
Came mornings when our window-panes
Were bright with sunshine and embossed
With silver trellises of frost;
And out we rushed across the yard,
Down rutty cart tracks, frozen hard,
And round the farm sheds and the fold
To match our blood against the cold;
And every one we met was gay,
And had the pleasant word to say.
What, then, were dreams of summer worth,
While magic regions of the north
Lay round us, and o’er fields of snow,
Along the river’s overflow,
Were Arctic seas, with many a shore
And frozen inlet to explore?—
Or while we tracked through forests bare
Wild creatures to their hidden lair?
Or, when the snow had drifted deep,
We helped to find the scattered sheep,
Or, with the shepherds and their dogs,
Sat round a fire of brush and logs
At nightfall, when old tales were told
Of other days, and clear and cold
The starlight shone above the fold?

Not then, but when the wild South-west
Filled the dim land with its unrest
At twilight, and the woods began
To talk of things unknown to man,
And on the garden paths we heard
Strange footsteps, but no answering word
Came to our call;—
’twas then the spell
Of mystery about us fell,
The awe that held us half-afraid
To pass beyond our gates, but made
The shelter of our homely bounds
So welcome, and familiar sounds
So sweet; ’twas then before us rose
The vision of ancestral foes,
And in our ears old battle calls
At night around beleaguered walls
Rang; and, though all was safe and still,
Old dangers set our hearts a-thrill,
And in the silent courtyard made
Each door and arch an ambuscade;
And passing through our sleeping camp
We heard the stabled horses champ,
And started as a halter whirred
Along the chain rings when they stirred.

Then, with our day’s adventures o’er,
Safe housed, we heard the muffled roar
Of winds without, and round the fire
Sought for the land of heart’s desire,
Or sailed across the Spanish main
In well-loved books; or lived again
In knightly days of long ago,
And heard the horn of Ivanhoe
At Ashby lists; or, on his steed
At Acre, saw King Richard lead
His pilgrim soldiers, worn and thin,
That broke the ranks of Saladin:—
Till, in the thickest of some fight,
Or when the captive maiden’s plight
Was sorest, suddenly the spell
Was broken, and a welcome bell
Our own forgotten days restored
And called us to the supper board;
Where, with our elders gathered round,
Good cheer and fellowship we found,
And oft a neighbour or a guest
To tell the news or speed the jest.

And all too quickly afterwards
Our bedtime came, and at their cards
And talk we left them. In the hall
The firelight flickered on the wall,
Deep shadows thronged the winding stair,
And overhead, we knew not where,
A footstep fell upon the floor
Of some deserted corridor.

But, once within our cheerful room,
No hidden phantom of the gloom
Came near us; and in bed we lay
And heard the wind that far away
Now seemed to blow,—as storms outside
Might seem to those whose vessels ride
Rocked on the gentle rise and fall
Of tides within the haven wall.

THE FOUNTAIN-SPRINGS

Were they not memories of things known before,—
Not the strange vision of an unknown shore,
That met us when in childhood we began
To look upon our dwelling-place, and ran
Fearless to meet our fortune; when our eyes
Saw life with wonder, but without surprise;
When, though newcomers, no strange note we heard
In voice of wind or wave or song of bird;
And looking on the hills and trees and flowers
We loved, and without question made them ours;
And trusted the dumb creature and the hand
That guided us, nor sought to understand?
Were they not greetings of things old and dear,—
Not the strange voices of an alien sphere,—
That greeted us and linked us, with a bond
Of speech familiar, to some home beyond?