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by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

At Middle‑Field Gate in February
 (Sung text for setting by G. Finzi)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
The bars are thick with drops that show
As they gather themselves from the fog
Like silver buttons ranged in a row,
And as evenly spaced as if measured, although 
They fall at the feeblest jog.

They load the leafless hedge hard by,
And the blades of last year's grass,
While the fallow ploughland turned up nigh
In raw rolls, clammy and clogging lie
Too clogging for feet to pass.

How dry it was on a farback day
When straws hung the hedge and around,
When amid the sheaves in amorous play
In curtained bonnets and light array
Bloomed a bevy now underground!

Composition:

    Set to music by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "At Middle-Field Gate in February", op. 19b no. 2, published 1958, from I said to love, no. 2

Text Authorship:

  • by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "At Middle-Field Gate in February", appears in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses, first published 1917

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 104

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