Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RECRUIT, by JOHN COWPER POWYS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RECRUIT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Carter for mister manley
Last Line: "and nuts be brown"" answered the guns."
Subject(s): England; Jesus Christ; Singing & Singers; English


Carter for Mister Manley,
He worked at Willum's Mill
And up by barton and down by mead
He sang to the maidens upon his reed.
"Apples be ripe" he sang to them;
"And nuts be brown" they answered him.

From England banished far
In the madness of the war,
With a bullet thro' his throat
He gasped the ancient note;
His comrades laughed at the words he sang;
But the dying men died without a pang.
"Apples be ripe" he sang to them;
"And nuts be brown" they answered him.

In the hospital the nuns
As his own end drew near
Asked him what message he wished to send
To those he held most dear.
Sweetly they spoke to him of Christ
Whose blood for all the world sufficed.

But his thoughts were at Willum's Mill
Along with Mister Manley.
Up by barton and down by mead
Someone was playing upon his reed.
"Apples be ripe" sang the holy nuns;
"And nuts be brown" answered the guns.





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