A Spring Idyll / Patrick MacGill

A Spring Idyll

On my hangings of arras
          Dewdrop and sunlight commingle,
     The music of woods that are endless,
     And infinite seas
          That come with the voices
          Of storm or of calm to the shingle
     In the lilac gray blush of the dawn,
     On the sensuous breeze.

So full of promise is earth
          As a child's gentle laughter,
     The sapphire tints of the water
     Arc fair to the eyes –
          The present is only,
          I know not a past nor hereafter,
     And forth from my covering
     Of saffron and ermine I rise.

~~

Patrick MacGill (1889-1963)

from Songs of a Navvy, 1911

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada and the United States]

Patrick MacGill biography

Fate / Patrick MacGill

Fate 

The cloudwrack o'er the heaven flies,
     The wild wind whistles on the lake,
     The drooping branches in the brake
Mourn for the pale blue butterflies.

Where is the sheen of green and gold?
     The sullen Winter's beard is hoar,
     Where are the fruits the Autumn bore?
We know not, who are growing old.

We pulled the dainty flowers of spring,
     But we were happy being young –
     And now when Autumn's knell is rung
We wither 'neath the vampire wing.

~~

Patrick MacGill (1889-1963)

from Songs of a Navvy, 1911

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada and the United States]

Patrick MacGill biography

After Loos / Patrick MacGill

After Loos

(Cafe Pierre le Blanc, Nouex les Mines, Michaelmas Eve, 1915.)


Was it only yesterday
Lusty comrades marched away?
Now they're covered up with clay.

Seven glasses used to be
Called for six good mates and me —
Now we only call for three.

Little crosses neat and white,
Looking lonely every night,
Tell of comrades killed in fight.

Hearty fellows they have been,
And no more will they be seen
Drinking wine in Nouex les Mines.

Lithe and supple lads were they,
Marching merrily away —
Was it only yesterday?

~~

Patrick MacGill (1889-1963)

from Soldier Songs, 1917

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada and the United States]

Patrick MacGill biography