[813] Weathers

         (I)

This is the weather the cuckoo likes,
    And so do I;
When showers betumble the chestnut spikes,
    And nestlings fly;
And the little brown nightingale bills his best,
And they sit outside at 'The Traveller's Rest,'
And maids come forth sprig-muslin drest,
And citizens dream of the south and west,
    And so do I.

         (II)

This is the weather the shepherd shuns,
    And so do I;
When beeches drip in browns and duns,
    And thresh and ply;
And hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe,
And meadow rivulets overflow,
And drops on gate bars hang in a row,
And rooks in families homeward go,
    And so do I.

     	-- Thomas Hardy

There's something comfortable about Hardy's poetry - I can always open up a
collection of his and be assured of finding something quietly contemplative,
familiar but never stale.

Today's poem is another variation on the theme of weather and country
landscape that Hardy was fond of exploring. The poem is rather skilfully
constructed; the main impact is in the first and last two lines of each
verse, the intermediate lines building up a smooth segue from the first 'and
so do I' to the second.

Links:

  There's a biography at poem #96

  And here's just one example of a poem that makes an interesting pair with
  'Weathers': poem #226

-martin