Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BALLADE MADE IN THE HOT WEATHER, by WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BALLADE MADE IN THE HOT WEATHER, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Fountains that frisk and sprinkle
Last Line: To live, I think of these!
Alternate Author Name(s): Henley, W. E.
Variant Title(s): Made In The Hot Weather
Subject(s): Summer


Fountains that frisk and sprinkle
The moss they overspill;
Pools that the breezes crinkle;
The wheel beside the mill,
With its wet, weedy frill;
Wind-shadows in the wheat;
A water-cart in the street;
The fringe of foam that girds
An islet's ferneries;
A green sky's minor thirds --
To live, I think of these!

Of life and glass the tinkle,
Pellucid, silver-shrill;
Peaches without a wrinkle;
Cherries and snow at will,
From china bowls that fill
The senses with a sweet
Incurious of heat;
A melon's dripping sherds;
Cream-clotted strawberries;
Dusk dairies set with curds --
To live, I think of these!

Vale-lily and periwinkle;
Wet stone-crop on the sill;
The look of leaves a-twinkle
With windlets clear and still;
The feel of a forest rill
That wimples fresh and fleet
About one's naked feet;
The muzzles of shrinking herds;
Lush flags and bulrushes;
The chirp of rain-bound birds --
To live, I think of these!

Envoy

Dark isles, new packs of cards,
Mermaids' tails, cool swards,
Dawn dews and starlit seas,
White marbles, whiter words --
To live, I think of these!





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