LV

Westward on the high-hilled plains
 Where for me the world began,
Still, I think, in newer veins
 Frets the changeless blood of man.

Now that other lads than I
 Strip to bathe on Severn shore,
They, no help, for all they try,
 Tread the mill I trod before.

There, when hueless is the west
 And the darkness hushes wide,
Where the lad lies down to rest
 Stands the troubled dream beside.

There, on thoughts that once were mine,
 Day looks down the eastern steep,
And the youth at morning shine
 Makes the vow he will not keep.

LVI

THE DAY OF BATTLE

“Far I hear the bugle blow
To call me where I would not go,
And the guns begin the song,
‘Soldier, fly or stay for long.’”

“Comrade, if to turn and fly
Made a soldier never die,
Fly I would, for who would not? 
’Tis sure no pleasure to be shot.”

“But since the man that runs away
Lives to die another day,
And cowards’ funerals, when they come
Are not wept so well at home.”

“Therefore, though the best is bad,
Stand and do the best my lad;
Stand and fight and see your slain,
And take the bullet in your brain.”

LVII

You smile upon your friend to-day,
 To-day his ills are over;
You hearken to the lover’s say,
 And happy is the lover.

’Tis late to hearken, late to smile,
 But better late than never: 
I shall have lived a little while
 Before I die for ever.

LVIII

When I came last to Ludlow
 Amidst the moonlight pale,
Two friends kept step beside me,
 Two honest lads and hale.

Now Dick lies long in the churchyard,
 And Ned lies long in jail,
And I come home to Ludlow
 Amidst the moonlight pale.

LIX

THE ISLE OF PORTLAND

The star-filled seas are smooth to-night
 From France to England strown;
Black towers above the Portland light
 The felon-quarried stone.

On yonder island, not to rise,
 Never to stir forth free,
Far from his folk a dead lad lies
 That once was friends with me.

Lie you easy, dream you light,
 And sleep you fast for aye;
And luckier may you find the night
 Than ever you found the day.

LX

Now hollow fires burn out to black,
 And lights are guttering low: 
Square your shoulders, lift your pack,
 And leave your friends and go.

Oh never fear, man, nought’s to dread,
 Look not left nor right: 
In all the endless road you tread
 There’s nothing but the night.