Downhill I came, hungry, and yet not starved; Cold, yet had heat within me that was proof Against the North wind; tired, yet so that rest Had seemed the sweetest thing under a roof. Then at the inn I had food, fire, and rest, Knowing how hungry, cold, and tired was I. All of the night was quite barred out except An owl's cry, a most melancholy cry Shaken out long and clear upon the hill, No merry note, nor cause of merriment, But one telling me plain what I escaped And others could not, that night, as in I went. And salted was my food, and my repose, Salted and sobered, too, by the bird's voice Speaking for all who lay under the stars, Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO JOHN KEATS; SONNET by AMY LOWELL TO THE CASTLE OF DONEGAL by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM A FARMHOUSE DIRGE by ALFRED AUSTIN AUTUMN by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD A NEW PILGRIMAGE: 21 by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT DEAR MINNA by MAXWELL BODENHEIM TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 4. SURELY THE TIME WILL COME by EDWARD CARPENTER |