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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ON THE WAY by THOMAS HARDY

Poet Analysis

First Line: THE TREES FRET FITFULLY AND TWIST
Last Line: AND THE WIND A LYRE.

THE trees fret fitfully and twist,
Shutters rattle and carpets heave,
Slime is the dust of yestereve,
And in the streaming mist
Fishes might seem to fin a passage if they list.

But to his feet,
Drawing nigh and nigher
A hidden seat,
The fog is sweet
And the wind a lyre.

A vacant sameness grays the sky,
A moisture gathers on each knop
Of the bramble, rounding to a drop,
That greets the goer-by
With the cold listless lustre of a dead man's eye

But to her sight,
Drawing nigh and nigher
Its deep delight,
The fog is bright
And the wind a lyre.



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