BEYOND THE BARN

I rose up with the sun

And climbed the hill.

I saw the white mists run

And shadows run

Down into hollow woods.

I went with the white clouds

That swept the hill.

A wind struck the low hedge trees

And clustering trees,

And rocked in each tall elm.

The long afternoon was calm

When down the hill

I came, and felt the air cool,

The shadows cool;

And I walked on footsore,

Saying, “But two hours more,

Then, the last hill....

Surely this road I know,

These hills I know,

All the unknown is known,

“And that barn, black and lone,

High on the hill —

There the long road ends,

The long day ends,

And travelling is over.”...

Nor thought nor travelling's over.

Here on the hill

The black barn is a shivering ruin,

A windy cold ruin.

I must go on and on,

Where often my thought has gone,

Up hill, down hill,

Beyond this ruin of Time;

Forgetting Time

I must follow my thought still.