Page:Collingwood - Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll.djvu/61





Fair stands the ancient Rectory,
 * The Rectory of Croft,

The sun shines bright upon it,
 * The breezes whisper soft.

From all the house and garden
 * Its inhabitants come forth,



And muster in the road without, And pace in twos and threes about,
 * The children of the North.

Some are waiting in the garden,
 * Some are waiting at the door,

And some are following behind,
 * And some have gone before.

But wherefore all this mustering?
 * Wherefore this vast array?

A gallant feat of horsemanship Will be performed to-day.

To eastward and to westward,
 * The crowd divides amain,

Two youths are leading on the steed,
 * Both tugging at the rein;