A Shropshire Lad/Hughley Steeple

by Alfred Edward Housman

LXI

HUGHLEY STEEPLE

The vane on Hughley steepleVeers bright, a far-known sign,And there lie Hughley people,And there lie friends of mine.Tall in their midst the towerDivides the shade and sun,And the clock strikes the hourAnd tells the time to none.

To south the headstones cluster,The sunny mounds lie thick;The dead are more in musterAt Hughley than the quick.North, for a soon-told number,Chill graves the sexton delves,And steeple-shadowed slumberThe slayers of themselves.

To north, to south, lie parted,With Hughley tower above,The kind, the single-hearted,The lads I used to love.And, south or north, ’tis onlyA choice of friends one knows,And I shall ne'er be lonelyAsleep with these or those.

 

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