Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, RICHMOND PARK, by ROWLAND THIRLMERE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

RICHMOND PARK, by                    
First Line: The thorns were blooming red and white
Last Line: And a yaffle laughed in richmond park.
Subject(s): Richmond Park, England; World War I - Great Britain


THE thorns were blooming red and white,
The blue air throbbed with May's delight;
To live was joy. Loud sang the lark
Of peace and love in Richmond Park.

Our crippled soldiers took the sun,
Glad that their bloody work was done;
Being free to feel the morning's charm,
They grudged no loss of leg or arm.

The yaffles dipped from glade to glade—
Quick gleams of gold and green. I made
A song in my heart. Each hour inspires
Lit by the rhododendron fires.

The cuckoo called: his ancient note
Stirred the world's soul; and mine it smote
With pain. He quested in sad trees
Whose dead limbs shewed their tragedies.

Yet something of a happier time—
When oaks could flourish in the prime
Of spring—came back to all who heard
The morning voiceful in that bird.

Suddenly boomed a gun. Less bright
The landscape grew: a droning flight
Of man-birds scared a singing lark,
And a yaffle laughed in Richmond Park.





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