Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PAYING CALLS by THOMAS HARDY

Poet Analysis

First Line: I WENT BY FOOTPATH AND BY STILE
Last Line: BUT THEY SPOKE NOT TO ME.
Subject(s): DEATH; FRIENDSHIP; DEAD, THE;
I WENT by footpath and by stile
Beyond where bustle ends,
Strayed here a mile and there a mile
And called upon some friends.

On certain ones I had not seen
For years past did I call,
And then on others who had been
The oldest friends of all.

It was the time of midsummer
When they had used to roam;
But now, though tempting was the air,
I found them all at home.

I spoke to one and other of them
By mound and stone and tree
Of things we had done ere days were dim,
But they spoke not to me.



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