Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

D.H. Lawrence (1885–1930). New Poems. 1916.

35. Twenty Years Ago

ROUND the house were lilacs and strawberries

And foal-foots spangling the paths,

And far away on the sand-hills, dewberries

Caught dust from the sea’s long swaths.

Up the wolds the woods were walking,

And nuts fell out of their hair.

At the gate the nets hung, balking

The star-lit rush of a hare.

In the autumn fields, the stubble

Tinkled the music of gleaning.

At a mother’s knees, the trouble

Lost all its meaning.

Yea, what good beginnings

To this sad end!

Have we had our innings?

God forfend!