The Poetry Corner

To Alfred Tennyson--1883

By Robert Fuller Murray

Familiar with thy melody, We go debating of its power, As churls, who hear it hour by hour, Contemn the skylark's minstrelsy-- As shepherds on a Highland lea Think lightly of the heather flower Which makes the moorland's purple dower, As far away as eye can see. Let churl or shepherd change his sky, And labour in the city dark, Where there is neither air nor room-- How often will the exile sigh To hear again the unwearied lark, And see the heather's lavish bloom!