The Way through the Woods

    A little poetry to start the week; in the vicinity of The Trout the other day (and see this post), we came upon a chained gate which brought to mind some Kipling:

  THEY shut the road through the woods
Seventy years ago.
Weather and rain have undone it again,
And now you would never know
There was once a road through the woods
Before they planted the trees.
It is underneath the coppice and heath,
And the thin anemones.
Only the keeper sees
That, where the ring-dove broods,
And the badgers roll at ease,
There was once a road through the woods.

Yet, if you enter the woods
Of a summer evening late,
When the night-air cools on the trout-ringed pools
Where the otter whistles his mate,
(They fear not men in the woods,
Because they see so few.)
You will hear the beat of a horse's feet,
And the swish of a skirt in the dew,
Steadily cantering through
The misty solitudes,
As though they perfectly knew
The old lost road through the woods.
But there is no road through the woods.

Comments

[Joan Kyler]

What a lovely poem. I also an envious of an inn, The Trout, that looks gorgeous and also seems to have an extensive menu for vegans! I get so tired of trying to ferret out vegan items from most menus. Thanks for sharing. If I'm ever back in the UK, I'll make a point of getting there!

[Cornflower]

Do go, Joan, it's a lovely spot! We'd hoped to get a table for lunch but they were fully booked so we went to The Perch at Binsey (http://the-perch.co.uk) instead - it was excellent, and I see they have a vegan menu too.

[Fran]

A favourite poem of my mother’s. As I read it through here I could hear her reciting it from memory. She had learnt so much by heart when young and retained most of it right up until her death.

[Cornflower]

That is impressive, and a lovely memory to have.

[Mary]

One could almost envision a misty walk through the woods, looking for a road once taken. Lovely poem.

[Cornflower]

That place would be very atmospheric on a 'dreich' day!