The Vagabond and Other Poems from Punch by R. C. Lehmann
page 18 of 84 (21%)
page 18 of 84 (21%)
|
Sip their innocent pints of beer,
While the anvil-notes ring high and clear To the rushing bass of the mighty bellows. And thence they look on a cheerful scene As the little ones play on the Village Green, Skipping about With laugh and shout As if no Darville could ever squire them, And nothing on earth could tame or tire them. On the central point of the pleasant Green The famous stone-walled well is seen Which has never stinted its ice-cold waters To generations of Cragwell's daughters. No matter how long the rain might fail There was always enough for can and pail-- Enough for them and enough to lend To the dried-out rivals of Cragwell End. An army might have been sent to raise Enough for a thousand washing days Crowded and crammed together in one day, One vast soap-sudded and wash-tubbed Monday, And, however fast they might wind the winch, The water wouldn't have sunk an inch. For the legend runs that Crag the Saint, At the high noon-tide of a summer's day, Thirsty, spent with his toil and faint, To the site of the well once made his way, And there he saw a delightful rill And sat beside it and drank his fill, |
|