Page:Collected poems of Rupert Brooke.djvu/69

 FLIGHT

out of the shade that cried,

And long noon in the hot calm places,

And children's play by the wayside,

And country eyes, and quiet faces—

All these were round my steady paces.

Those that I could have loved went by me;

Cool gardened homes slept in the sun;

I heard the whisper of water nigh me,

Saw hands that beckoned, shone, were gone

In the green and gold. And I went on.

For if my echoing footfall slept,

Soon a far whispering there'd be

Of a little lonely wind that crept

From tree to tree, and distantly

Followed me, followed me. . ..

But the blue vaporous end of day

Brought peace, and pursuit baffled quite,

Where between pine-woods dipped the way.

I turned, slipped in and out of sight.

I trod as quiet as the night.