JOHN MASEFIELD 1878-1967

-o0o-

ON EASTNOR KNOLL 

Silent are the woods, and the dim green boughs are 

Hushed in the twilight: yonder, in the path through 

The apple orchard, is a tired plough-boy 

Calling the cows home.

A bright white star blinks, the pale moon rounds, but 

Still the red, lurid wreckage of the sunset 

Smoulders in smoky fire, and burns on 

The misty hill-tops.

Ghostly it grows, and darker, the burning 

Fades into smoke, and now the gusty oaks are 

A silent army of phantoms thronging 

A land of shadows.

This English poet and writer was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death. His poems include Sea Fever from Salt Water Ballads (1902) and Cargoes from Ballads (1903)