167 The Two Villages

OVER the river, on the hill,

Lieth a village white and still;

All around it the forest-trees

Shiver and whisper in the breeze;

Over it sailing shadows go

Of soaring hawk and screaming crow,

And mountain grasses, low and sweet,

Grow in the middle of every street.

Over the river, under the hill,

Another village lieth still;

There I see in the cloudy night

Twinkling stars of household light,

Fires that gleam from the smithy’s door,

Mists that curl on the river-shore;

And in the roads no grasses grow,

For the wheels that hasten to and fro.

In that village on the hill

Never is sound of smithy or mill;

The houses are thatched with grass and flowers;

Never a clock to toll the hours;

The marble doors are always shut,

You cannot enter in hall or hut;

All the villagers lie asleep;

Never a grain to sow or reap;

Never in dreams to moan or sigh;

Silent and idle and low they lie.

In that village under the hill,

When the night is starry and still,

Many a weary soul in prayer

Looks to the other village there,

And weeping and sighing, longs to go

Up to that home from this below;

Longs to sleep in the forest wild,

Whither have vanished wife and child,

And heareth, praying, this answer fall:

“Patience! that village shall hold ye all!”