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by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

At Middle‑Field Gate in February
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]1 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!

View original text (without footnotes)
1 or "arable ridges"

Text Authorship:

  • by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "At Middle-Field Gate in February", appears in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses, first published 1917 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "At Middle-Field Gate in February", op. 19b no. 2, published 1958, from I said to love, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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: 103

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