UNRETURNING

Under these walls and towers By these green water-ways, Oh the good days were ours, The unforgotten days! Too happy to be wise When the road used to run Under such maddening skies Headlong to Huntingdon. Paths where the lilac spills Blossom too rich to bear; Gold sheets of daffodils Lighting the Market Square; Shimmer of gliding prows Where the green shade is cool, Tea under orchard boughs, Smoke-rings by Byron’s Pool. Sunset at back of King’s Behind the silver spire, Talk of uncounted things Over a college fire— Red leaves above your door, Gray walls and echoing street Whose stones will never more Ring to your passing feet; Strange! to think Term is here, Life leads the same old dance, While you lie dead, my dear, Somewhere in France....