Nature

English Hills

by John Freeman 1880–1929

From Poems New and Old (1920)

Nature

O that I were
Where breaks the pure cold light
On English hills,
And peewits rising cry,
And gray is all the sky.

Or at evening there
When the faint slow light stays,
And far below
Sleeps the last lingering sound,
And night leans all round.

O then, O there
'Tis English haunted ground.
The diligent stars
Creep out, watch, and smile;
The wise moon lingers awhile.

For surely there
Heroic shapes are moving,
Visible thoughts,
Passions, things divine,
Clear beneath clear star-shine.

O that I were
Again on English hills,
Seeing between
Laborious villages
Her cool dark loveliness.

MLA

Freeman, John. “English Hills.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/freeman/202/.

Chicago

Freeman, John. “English Hills.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/freeman/202/.

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