Alfred Edward Housman

A Shropshire Lad. 61. Hughley Steeple

The vane on Hughley steeple
   Veers bright, a far-known sign,
And there lie Hughley people
   And there lie friends of mine.
Tall in their midst the tower
   Divides the shade and sun,
And the clock strikes the hour
   And tells the time to none.

To south the headstones cluster,
   The sunny mounds lie thick;
The dead are more in muster
   At Hughley than the quick.
North, for a soon-told number,
   Chill graves the sexton delves,
And steeple-shadowed slumber
   The slayers of themselves.

To north, to south, lie parted,
   With Hughley tower above,
The kind, the single-hearted,
   The lads I used to love.
And, south or north, 'tis only
   A choice of friends one knows,
And I shall ne'er be lonely
   Asleep with these or those.