Alfred Edward Housman

A Shropshire Lad. 20. Oh Fair Enough Are Sky and Plain

Oh fair enough are sky and plain,
   But I know fairer far:
Those are as beautiful again
   That in the water are;

The pools and rivers wash so clean
   The trees and clouds and air,
The like on earth was never seen,
   And oh that I were there.

These are the thoughts I often think
   As I stand gazing down
In act upon the cressy brink
   To strip and dive and drown;

But in the golden-sanded brooks
   And azure meres I spy
A silly lad that longs and looks
   And wishes he were I.