AFTERNOON SERVICE AT MELLSTOCK (Circa 1850)
Reading edition
On afternoons of drowsy calm We stood in the panelled pew, Singing one-voiced a Tate-and-Brady psalm To the tune of “Cambridge New.”
We watched the elms, we watched the rooks, The clouds upon the breeze, Between the whiles of glancing at our books, And swaying like the trees.
So mindless were those outpourings!— Though I am not aware That I have gained by subtle thought on things Since we stood psalming there.