A Shropshire Lad/Is my team ploughing

by Alfred Edward Housman

XXVII

'Is my team ploughing,That I was used to driveAnd hear the harness jingleWhen I was man alive?'

Ay, the horses trample,The harness jingles now;No change though you lie underThe land you used to plough.

'Is football playingAlong the river shore,With lads to chase the leather,Now I stand up no more?'

Ay, the ball is flying,The lads play heart and soul;The goal stands up, the keeperStands up to keep the goal.

'Is my girl happy,That I thought hard to leave,And has she tired of weepingAs she lies down at eve?'

Ay, she lies down lightly,She lies not down to weep:Your girl is well contented.Be still, my lad, and sleep.

'Is my friend hearty, Now I am thin and pine,And has he found to sleep in A better bed than mine?

Yes, lad, I lie easy, I lie as lads would choose;I cheer a dead man's sweetheart, Never ask me whose.

 

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