Last Poems (Housman)/In valleys green and still

by Alfred Edward Housman

VII

In valleys green and still Where lovers wander mayingThey hear from over hill A music playing.

Behind the drum and fife, Past hawthornwood and hollow,Through earth and out of life The soldiers follow.

The soldier's is the trade: In any wind or weatherHe steals the heart of maid And man together.

The lover and his lass Beneath the hawthorn lyingHave heard the soldiers pass, And both are sighing.

And down the distance they With dying note and swellingWalk the resounding way To the still dwelling