Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AFTERNOON TEA, by CHARLOTTE MEW


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AFTERNOON TEA, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Please you, excuse me, good five-o'clock people
Last Line: Is such a lovely thing
Subject(s): Environment; Trees


Please you, excuse me, good five-o'clock people,
I've lost my last hatful of words,
And my heart's in the wood up above the church steeple,
I'd rather have tea with - the birds.
Gay Kate's stolen kisses, poor Barnaby's scars,
John's losses and Mary's gains,
Oh! what do they matter, my dears, to the stars
Or the glow-worms in the lanes!
I'd rather lie under the tall elm-trees,
With old rooks talking loud overhead,
To watch a red squirrel run over my knees,
Very still on my brackeny bed.
And wonder what feathers the wrens will be taking
For lining their nests next Spring;
Or why the tossed shadow of boughs in a great wind shaking
Is such a lovely thing.




Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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