Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967). The Old Huntsman and Other Poems. 1918.

62. A Poplar and the Moon

THERE stood a Poplar, tall and straight;

The fair, round Moon, uprisen late,

Made the long shadow on the grass

A ghostly bridge ’twixt heaven and me.

But May, with slumbrous nights, must pass;

And blustering winds will strip the tree.

And I’ve no magic to express

The moment of that loveliness;

So from these words you’ll never guess

The stars and lilies I could see.