English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 565. Past and Present |
| | | Thomas Hood (1798–1845) |
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| I REMEMBER, I remember | |
| The house where I was born, | |
| The little window where the sun | |
| Came peeping in at morn; | |
| He never came a wink too soon | 5 |
| Nor brought too long a day; | |
| But now, I often wish the night | |
| Had borne my breath away. | |
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| I remember, I remember | |
| The roses, red and white, | 10 |
| The violets, and the lily-cups— | |
| Those flowers made of light! | |
| The lilacs where the robin built, | |
| And where my brother set | |
| The laburnum on his birthday,— | 15 |
| The tree is living yet! | |
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| I remember, I remember | |
| Where I was used to swing, | |
| And thought the air must rush as fresh | |
| To swallows on the wing; | 20 |
| My spirit flew in feathers then | |
| That is so heavy now, | |
| And summer pools could hardly cool | |
| The fever on my brow. | |
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| I remember, I remember | 25 |
| The fir-trees dark and high; | |
| I used to think their slender tops | |
| Were close against the sky: | |
| It was a childish ignorance, | |
| But now ’tis little joy | 30 |
| To know I’m farther off from Heaven | |
| Than when I was a boy. | |
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