Our brows are bound with spindrift and the weed is on our knees; Our loins are battered ‘neath us by the swinging, smoking seas. From reef and rock and skerry–over headland, ness, and voe– The Coastwise Lights of England watch the ships of England go! Through the endless summer evenings, on the lineless, level floors; […]

My garden blazes brightly with the rose-bush and the peach, And the koeil sings above it, in the siris by the well, From the creeper-covered trellis comes the squirrel’s chattering speech, And the blue jay screams and flutters where the cheery satbhai dwell. But the rose has lost its fragrance, and the koeil’s note is […]

Truly ye come of The Blood; slower to bless than to ban; Little used to lie down at the bidding of any man. Flesh of the flesh that I bred, bone of the bone that I bare; Stark as your sons shall be–stern as your fathers were. Deeper than speech our love, stronger than life […]

Brethren, how shall it fare with me When the war is laid aside, If it be proven that I am he For whom a world has died? If it be proven that all my good, And the greater good I will make, Were purchased me by a multitude Who suffered for my sake? That I […]

Ere Mor the Peacock flutters, ere the Monkey People cry, Ere Chil the Kite swoops down a furlong sheer, Through the Jungle very softly flits a shadow and a sigh– He is Fear, O Little Hunter, he is Fear! Very softly down the glade runs a waiting, watching shade, And the whisper spreads and widens […]

By the Hoof of the Wild Goat uptossed From the cliff where she lay in the Sun Fell the Stone To the Tarn where the daylight is lost, So she fell from the light of the Sun And alone! Now the fall was ordained from the first With the Goat and the Cliff and the […]

Life’s all getting and giving. I’ve only myself to give. What shall I do for a living? I’ve only one life to live. End it? I’ll not find another. Spend it? But how shall I best? Sure the wise plan is to live like a man And Luck may look after the rest! Largesse! Largesse, […]

(A.D. 683) Shove off from the wharf-edge! Steady! Watch for a smooth! Give way! If she feels the lop already She’ll stand on her head in the bay. It’s ebb–it’s dusk–it’s blowing. The shoals are a mile of white. But (snatch her along!) we’re going To find our master to-night. For we hold that in […]

One moment past our bodies cast No shadow on the plain; Now clear and black they stride our track, And we run home again. In morning hush, each rock and bush Stands hard, and high, and raw: Then give the Call: ‘Good rest to all That keep the Jungle Law!’ Now horn and pelt our […]

Roses red and roses white Plucked I for my love’s delight. She would none of all my posies– Bade me gather her blue roses. Half the world I wandered through, Seeking where such flowers grew; Half the world unto my quest Answered me with laugh and jest. Home I came at wintertide, But my silly […]

Once a ripple came to land In the golden sunset burning– Lapped against a maiden’s hand, By the ford returning. Dainty foot and gentle breast– Here, across, be glad and rest. ‘Maiden, wait,’ the ripple saith; ‘Wait awhile, for I am Death!’ ‘Where my lover calls I go– Shame it were to treat him coldly– […]

The Law whereby my lady moves Was never Law to me, But ’tis enough that she approves Whatever Law it be. For in that Law, and by that Law, My constant course I’ll steer; Not that I heed or deem it dread, But that she holds it dear. Tho’ Asia sent for my content Her […]

Eyes aloft, over dangerous places, The children follow the butterflies, And, in the sweat of their upturned faces, Slash with a net at the empty skies. So it goes they fall amid brambles, And sting their toes on the nettle-tops, Till, after a thousand scratches and scrambles, They wipe their brows and the hunting stops. […]

(Maternity Hospital) Our sister sayeth such and such. And we must bow to her behests; Our sister toileth overmuch, Our little maid that hath no breasts. A field untilled, a web unwove, A flower withheld from sun or bee, An alien in the courts of Love, And–teacher unto such as we! We love her, but […]

Alone upon the housetops to the North I turn and watch the lightning in the sky– The glamour of thy footsteps in the North. Come back to me, Beloved, or I die. Below my feet the still bazar is laid– Far, far below the weary camels lie– The camels and the captives of thy raid. […]

And they were stronger hands than mine That digged the Ruby from the earth– More cunning brains that made it worth The large desire of a king, And stouter hearts that through the brine Went down the perfect Pearl to bring. Lo, I have wrought in common clay Rude figures of a rough-hewn race, Since […]

If I were hanged on the highest hill, Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine! I know whose love would follow me still, Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine! If I were drowned in the deepest sea, Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine! I know whose tears would come down to me, Mother […]

She dropped the bar, she shot the bolt, she fed the fire anew, For she heard a whimper under the sill and a great grey paw came through. The fresh flame comforted the hut and shone on the roof-beam, And the Only Son lay down again and dreamed that he dreamed a dream. The last […]

I will let loose against you the fleet-footed vines– I will call in the Jungle to stamp out your lines! The roofs shall fade before it, The house-beams shall fall, And the Karela, the bitter Karela, Shall cover it all! In the gates of these your councils my people shall sing, In the doors of […]

Oh, little did the Wolf-Child care, When first he planned his home, What City should arise and bear The weight and state of Rome! A shiftless, westward-wandering tramp, Checked by the Tiber flood, He reared a wall around his camp Of uninspired mud. But when his brother leaped the Wall And mocked its height and […]