Dishevelled leaves creep down
Upon that bank to-day,
Some green, some yellow, and some pale brown;
The wet bents bob and sway;
The once warm slippery turf is sodden
Where we laughingly sat or lay.

The summerhouse is gone,
Leaving a weedy space;
The bushes that veiled it once have grown
Gaunt trees that interlace,
Through whose lank limbs I see too clearly
The nakedness of the place.

And where were hills of blue,
Blind drifts of vapour blow,
And the names of former dwellers few,
If any, people know,
And instead of a voice that called, "Come in, Dears,"
Time calls, "Pass below!"



About this poem
"Where They Lived" was published in Thomas Hardy's book "Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses" (Macmillan, 1917).

About Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840, in Dorset, England. His collections of poetry include "Wessex Poems and Other Verses" (Harper & Brothers, 1898) and "Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses" (Macmillan, 1909). Hardy died on Jan. 11, 1928.

***
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day[at]poets.org.


This poem is in the public domain. Distributed by King Features Syndicate