"Oh, I have a hatful of hail." "And I have a share of sleet." "So shall we go cruising to battle And rattle it down on their street?" Clouds all tumbled and white, Frowning clouds and grey; Dallington high on the hilltop, Dallington hears what they say. EENA-MENA-MINA-MO Eena-mena-mina-mo, Catch a nigger by ees toe, If 'e olleys, let'n go. O-U-T spells out And out you must go. You'm of it O! Children playing on the green: Joe Treguddick, deathly ill, Hears them very clearly still. Silently, with blinking eyes, Two great sons have dragged his bed To the window, till he dies. Now his mind is in his fields Where all things lose their certain shape. The cows in munching quiet lie, And on the orange of the sky The trees stand out like scissored crape. With deep cool breaths he drinks the night: Then, in a sudden sweat of pain, He twists upon his bed again. The children's voices die away, And seldom now the footsteps pass. A hobnailed tread upon the road Falls sudden silent on the grass. Still with throb and throb of pain He hears the children at their play Chanting insistent in his brain. Coughs: and with a whistling breath, Though he knows how the count will fall, Turns to play a game with Death, Turns to the last game of all. Eena-mena-mina-mo, Catch a nigger by ees toe. If 'e olleys, let'n go. O-U-T spells out And out you must go. You'm of it, Joe! _D. A. E. WALLACE_ (_SOMERVILLE_) IMPROMPTU IN MARCH I will cut you wands of willow, I will fetch you catkins yellow For a sign of March.... I've a snowy silken pillow For my head, you foolish fellow-- I've no love for March! Get me buckles, bring me laces, Amber beads and chrysoprases, Fans and castanets!... Lady, in the sunny places I can find you early daisies And sweet violets. IN NEW COLLEGE CLOISTERS Time sleeps-- Hush ye: go light-- Time sleeps By day and by night. Be your tread Softer than feet of the dead, Lest he wake And his heart break. Stern bells, Muffle your chime; He dreams-- Suffer the dreams of Time! To the patter of ilex leaves, To the sound of birds in the eaves, To the sibilant wings of a dove Time dreams--of his love. THE BEGGAR-MAIDEN There has come to me a lover, O ye winds and waters, With a house for my abiding Full of looking-glass and silk, And a palfrey for my riding White as milk, And the tresses of kings' daughters Spun with pearls, my head to cover! There has come to me a lover, O ye winds and waters!