by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956)

Nobody knows
Language: English 
Often I've heard the Wind sigh
   By the ivied orchard wall,
Over the leaves in the dark night,
   Breathe a sighing call,
And faint away in the silence
   While I, in my bed,
Wondered, 'twixt dreaming and waking,
       What it said.

Nobody knows what the Wind is,
   Under the height of the sky,
Where the hosts of the stars keep far away house
   And its wave sweeps by --
Just a great wave of the air,
   Tossing the leaves in its sea,
And foaming under the eaves of the roof\
        That covers me.

And so we live under deep water,
   All of us, beasts and men,
And our bodies are buried down under the sand,
   When we go again;
And leave, like the fishes, our shells,
   And float on the Wind and away,
To where, o'er the marvellous tides of the air,
        Burns day.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Peacock Pie. A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., [1920], page 156.


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Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-06-12
Line count: 24
Word count: 143