A Shropshire Lad VII - "When Smoke Stood up from Ludlow" by A.E. Housman, read by S.J.N. Bauhart

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Poetry reading - poem: Mortality, blackbirds, labour, rest.
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Poem VII from A Shropshire Lad, by A.E. Housman
"When Smoke stood up From Ludlow"

When smoke stood up from Ludlow,
And mist blew off from Teme,
And blithe afield to ploughing
Against the morning beam
I strode beside my team,

The blackbird in the coppice
Looked out to see me stride,
And hearkened as I whistled
The tramping team beside,
And fluted and replied:

"Lie down, lie down, young yeoman;
What use to rise and rise?
Rise man a thousand mornings
Yet down at last he lies,
And then the man is wise."

I heard the tune he sang me,
And spied his yellow bill;
I picked a stone and aimed it
And threw it with a will:
Then the bird was still.

Then my soul within me
Took up the blackbird's strain,
And still beside the horses
Along the dewy lane
It Sang the song again:

"Lie down, lie down, young yeoman;
The sun moves always west;
The road one treads to labour
Will lead one home to rest,
And that will be the best."

- Written by A.E. Housman, read by Stephen Bauhart
- Music from Pixabay, by Music for Videos (Oleg Kirilkov), "Slow Focus Piano"