The Poetry Corner

Growth In May

By Thomas Hardy

I enter a daisy-and-buttercup land, And thence thread a jungle of grass: Hurdles and stiles scarce visible stand Above the lush stems as I pass. Hedges peer over, and try to be seen, And seem to reveal a dim sense That amid such ambitious and elbow-high green They make a mean show as a fence. Elsewhere the mead is possessed of the neats, That range not greatly above The rich rank thicket which brushes their teats, And HER gown, as she waits for her Love. NEAR CHARD.