Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Original Text
Laurence Binyon, The Collected Poems of Laurence Binyon, I (London: Macmillan, 1931): 235-236.
1Gaunt on the cloudy plain
2Stand the great Stones,
3Dwarfed in the vast reach
4Of a sky that owns
5All the measure of earth
6Within its cloud-hung cave.
7Dumb stands the Circle
8As on a God's grave.
9But clattering with horses
10Up from the valley,
11With horses and horsemen
12At a trot, gaily
13Dragging the limbered guns,
14Youth comes riding,---
15Easy sits, mettlesome
16Horses bestriding.
17Fast come the twinkling hoofs,
18Light wheels and guns,
19Invading the upland,
20And sweep past the Stones.
21Giant those shapes now
22Over them tower,---
23Time's dark stature
24Over Youth's fleet hour.
25Ribs of dismemoried Earth,
26Guard what you may!
27The Immortals also
28Pass, nor stay.
Publication Start Year
1918
Publication Notes
The New World: Poems (London: Elkin Mathews, 1918).
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire, assisted by Ana Berdinskikh
RPO Edition
2009
Rhyme
Form