Alulvan

Alulvan written by Walter de la Mare

Songs of Childhood (1902)

Link to further information

    The sun is clear of bird and cloud,
    The grass shines windless, grey, and still,
    In dusky ruin the owl dreams on,
    The cuckoo echoes on the hill;
      Yet soft along Alulvan's walks
        The ghost at noonday stalks.

    His eyes in shadow of his hat
    Stare on the ruins of his house;
    His cloak, up-fasten'd with a brooch,
    Of faded velvet grey as mouse,
      Brushes the roses as he goes:
        Yet wavers not one rose.

    The wild birds in a cloud fly up
    From their sweet feeding in the fruit;
    The droning of the bees and flies
    Rises gradual as a lute;
      Is it for fear the birds are flown,
        And shrills the insect-drone?

    Thick is the ivy o'er Alulvan,
    And crisp with summer-heat its turf;
    Far, far across its empty pastures
    Alulvan's sands are white with surf:
      And he himself is grey as sea,
        Watching beneath an elder-tree.

    All night the fretful, shrill Banshee
    Lurks in the chambers' dark festoons,
    Calling for ever, o'er garden and river,
    Through magpie changing of the moons:
      'Alulvan, O, alas! Alulvan,
        The doom of lone Alulvan!'

Works by this author are in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 69 years or less. cs | de | en | eo | es | fr | he | pl | ru | zh

  ▲ top