Poem by Alfred Edward Housman

A Shropshire Lad. 55. Westward on the High-Hilled Plains

Westward on the high-hilled plains
   Where for me the world began,
Still, I think, in newer veins
   Frets the changeless blood of man.

Now that other lads than I
   Strip to bathe on Severn shore,
They, no help, for all they try,
   Tread the mill I trod before.

There, when hueless is the west
   And the darkness hushes wide,
Where the lad lies down to rest
   Stands the troubled dream beside.

There, on thoughts that once were mine,
   Day looks down the eastern steep,
And the youth at morning shine
   Makes the vow he will not keep. 

1. Last Poems. 21. The Fairies Break Their Dances
2. Additional Poems. 16. Some Can Gaze and not Be Sick
3. More Poems. 18. Delight it Is in Youth and May
4. More Poems. 21. The World Goes None the Lamer
5. Additional Poems. 11a. They Shall Have Breath that Never Were

Print

2092 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version