Before The Fair

'Lost,' 'lost,' the beeves and the bullocks, The cattle men sell and buy, Crowded upon the fair green, Low to the lightless sky. 'Live,' 'live,' and 'Here,' 'here,' the blackbird From the top of the bare ash-tree, Over the acres whistles With beak of yellow blee. And climbing, turning, and climbing His little stair of sound, 'Content,' 'content,' from the low hedge The redbreast sings in a round. And I who hear that hedge-song Will fare with all the rest, With thoughts of lust and labour, And bargain in my breast. The bare hedge bright with rain-drops That have not fallen down, The golden-crowded whin-bush Nor know these things my own!