Till, dazzled by the drowsy glare,

I shut my eyes to heat and light;

And saw, in sudden night,

Crouched in the dripping dark,

With steaming shoulders stark,

The man who hews the coal to feed my fire.

CONTENTS

[The Stone]
[The Wife]
[The Machine]
[The Lodestar]
[The Shop]
[Flannan Isle]
[The Brothers]
[The Blind Rower]
[The Flute]

Thanks are due to the editors of THE ENGLISH REVIEW, THE POETRY REVIEW and THE SPECTATOR for leave to reprint some of these tales.

FIRES