The Poetry Corner

Song: Love in the Open Air.

By Edward Shanks

I'll love you in the open air But stuffy rooms and blazing fires And mirrors with familiar stare Cloak and befoul my high desires. The dearest day that I have known Was in the fields, when driving rain Was like a veil around us thrown, A grey close veil without a stain. The young oak-tree was stripped and bare But naked twigs a shelter made, Where curious cows came round to stare And stood astonished and dismayed. Let it be rain or summer sun, Smell of wet earth or scent of flowers, Love, once more give me, give me one Of these enchanted lover's hours.