Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NEWS, by GODFREY ELTON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NEWS, by                    
First Line: They came, you know, and told me you were dead
Last Line: I missed the one beyond laburnum-tree.
Subject(s): Death; Oxford University; Dead, The


THEY came, you know, and told me you were dead,
Those little men who never dreamed of pain,
"There's not much racing news to-day," I said,
I said, "I hope it will be fine again."
And then, I think, I climbed a certain hill
And saw two plough-shares and a rusty bin,
And further on, beyond John Farmer's mill,
A fence in which five rails had fallen in;
But sixty-two I counted upright still.
And all the time my feet were saying "dead,"
Beating it slowly, beating through my head.

I saw it all. I saw the little room
In which, they said, they laid you; to and fro
I heard the creeper rustling, and the boom
Of some old hornet on the lawn below.
I saw "The Stag at Evening" by the door,
And, though I struggled hard, my eye was drawn
On past those old, red ink-stains on the floor,
On past the table, and "The Wounded Fawn,"
To that bright hair . . . .
No, I was wrong before.
Look at those railings, there are sixty-three.
I missed the one beyond laburnum-tree.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net