Thomas Hardy

Green Slates

   (Penpethy)

It happened once, before the duller
Loomings of life defined them,
I searched for slates of greenish colour
A quarry where men mined them;

And saw, the while I peered around there,
In the quarry standing
A form against the slate background there,
Of fairness eye-commanding.

And now, though fifty years have flown me,
With all their dreams and duties,
And strange-pipped dice my hand has thrown me,
And dust are all her beauties,

Green slates – seen high on roofs, or lower
In waggon, truck, or lorry –
Cry out: ‘Our home was where you saw her
Standing in the quarry!’