| Thomas Hardy (1840–1928). Wessex Poems and Other Verses. 1898. |
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| 6. Postponement |
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| SNOW-BOUND in woodland, a mournful word, | |
| Dropt now and then from the bill of a bird, | |
| Reached me on wind-wafts; and thus I heard, | |
| Wearily waiting:— | |
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| “I planned her a nest in a leafless tree, | 5 |
| But the passers eyed and twitted me, | |
| And said: ‘How reckless a bird is he, | |
| Cheerily mating!’ | |
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| “Fear-filled, I stayed me till summer-tide, | |
| In lewth of leaves to throne her bride; | 10 |
| But alas! her love for me waned and died, | |
| Wearily waiting. | |
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| “Ah, had I been like some I see, | |
| Born to an evergreen nesting-tree, | |
| None had eyed and twitted me, | 15 |
Cheerily mating!”
1866. | |
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