Page:Poems (1915) G K Chesterton.djvu/56



ROM the Wood of the Old Wives' Fables

They glittered out of the grey,

And with all the Armies of Elf-land

I strove like a beast at bay;

With only a right arm wearied,

Only a red sword worn,

And the pride of the House of Adam

That holdeth the stars in scorn.

For they came with chains of flowers

And lilies lances free,

There in the quiet greenwood

To take my grief from me.

And I said, "Now all is shaken

When heavily hangs the brow,

When the hope of the years is taken

The last star sunken. Now—