Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A WINTER'S TALE by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE

Poet Analysis

First Line: YESTERDAY THE FIELDS WERE ONLY GREY WITH SCATTERED SNOW
Last Line: WHY DOES SHE COME, WHEN SHE KNOWS WHAT I HAVE TO TELL?

YESTERDAY the fields were only grey with scattered snow,
And now the longest grass-leaves hardly emerge;
Yet her deep footsteps mark the snow, and go
On towards the pines at the hills' white verge.

I cannot see her, since the mist's white scarf
Obscures the dark wood and the dull orange sky;
But she's waiting, I know, impatient and cold, half
Sobs struggling into her frosty sigh.

Why does she come so promptly, when she must know
That she's only the nearer to the inevitable farewell;
The hill is steep, on the snow my steps are slow --
Why does she come, when she knows what I have to tell?




Home: PoetryExplorer.net