Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE VISITOR'S BOOK; HARTLAND QUAY, by RONALD ARBUTHNOTT KNOX


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE VISITOR'S BOOK; HARTLAND QUAY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: What, echo, shall I find at hartland quay
Last Line: Ech.
Subject(s): Oxford University


CORYDON. What, Echo, shall I find at Hartland Quay,
Save walls abandoned long ago, and sea?

ECHO. Go, and see.

COR. Nay, but describe it, Echo, for thy sighs
My roving accents quaintly parodize.

ECH. Paradise.

Cor. How shall I reach (for wind and wave are fickle)
Those fields untouched by harrow or by sickle?

ECH. Bicycle.

COR. What of the beds? What portion waits the roamer
Lulled by the murmur of the Atlantic comber?

ECH. Coma.

COR. What of the food? What influence supreme,
If baby seems in pain, will hush a scream?

ECH. Luscious cream.

COR. And will this land, when nought that's tender grows,
Yield beans and blackberries "automatwj"?

ECH. Or tomatoes.

COR. What exploits, then, shall occupy my time,
Wearied with wandering in many a climb?

ECH. Many a climb.

COR. Were it not best to lie on couch of clover?
Great is the peril, lest I should fall over.

ECH. Faugh! loafer.

COR. If, yet untired, I'd cool the heated limb,
Can any panacea heal this whim?

ECH. A healthy swim.

COR. What then my week's expenditure, and how
Reckoned the cost? my mind enlighten now.

ECH. Light enow.

COR. What of mine host? for, if the host be rude,
The fare, whate'er it be, is none so good.

ECH. None's so good.

COR. Come, Echo, thou hast visited this spot?
I have conjectured shrewdly, have I not?

ECH. Have I not!

COR. Who dwelt with thee, where Hartland lies concealed;
Where winds, that rule in sea, spare stone and field?

ECH. Rieu, Lindsay, Speyer, Stone, and Field.

COR. What is thy name? For Atho mountains make a
Clear "Hxw," but thou art in Pindar "Axa."

ECH.





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