Poem by Alfred Edward Housman

A Shropshire Lad. 50. Clunton and Clunbury

 Clunton and Clunbury,
 Clungunford and Clun,
Are the quietest places
 Under the sun. 

In valleys of springs of rivers,
 By Ony and Teme and Clun,
The country for easy livers,
 The quietest under the sun,

We still had sorrows to lighten,
 One could not be always glad,
And lads knew trouble at Knighton
 When I was a Knighton lad.

By bridges that Thames runs under,
 In London, the town built ill,
'Tis sure small matter for wonder
 If sorrow is with one still.

And if as a lad grows older
 The troubles he bears are more,
He carries his griefs on a shoulder
 That handselled them long before.

Where shall one halt to deliver
 This luggage I'd lief set down?
Not Thames, not Teme is the river,
 Nor London nor Knighton the town:

'Tis a long way further than Knighton,
 A quieter place than Clun,
Where doomsday may thunder and lighten
 And little 'twill matter to one.

1. More Poems. 33. On Forelands High in Heaven
2. Last Poems. 39. When Summer’s End Is Nighing
3. A Shropshire Lad. 56. The Day of Battle
4. Last Poems. 22. The Sloe Was Lost in Flower
5. More Poems. 21. The World Goes None the Lamer

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