RPO -- Charles Stuart Calverley : Peace. A Study

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Charles Stuart Calverley (1831-1884)

Peace. A Study

1He stood, a worn-out City clerk --

2 Who'd toil'd, and seen no holiday,

3For forty years from dawn to dark --

4 Alone beside Caermarthen Bay.

5He felt the salt spray on his lips;

6 Heard children's voices on the sands;

7Up the sun's path he saw the ships

8 Sail on and on to other lands;

9And laugh'd aloud. Each sight and sound

10 To him was joy too deep for tears;

11He sat him on the beach, and bound

12 A blue bandana round his ears

13And thought how, posted near his door,

14 His own green door on Camden Hill,

15Two bands at least, most likely more,

16 Were mingling at their own sweet will

17Verdi with Vance. And at the thought

18 He laugh'd again, and softly drew

19That Morning Herald that he'd bought

20 Forth from his breast, and read it through.

Notes

4] Caermarthern Bay: large bay off the coast of south Wales.

10] A line from William Wordsworth's "Intimations of Immortality."

14] Camden Hill: presumably the London suburb.

17] Verdi: Italian opera writer (1841-1901).
Vance: Alfred Glenville Vance, a music-hall comedian (1838?-88).

Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.

Original text: Charles Stuart Calverley. Fly Leaves (Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, 1890): 17-18. PR 4409 C2F5 1890 Robarts Library.
First publication date: 24 November 1866
Publication date note: Once a Week (Nov. 24, 1866).
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 1998.
Recent editing: 2:2002/5/9

Rhyme: abab

Other poems by Charles Stuart Calverley