The Project Gutenberg eBook of New Poems, by Sir Charles G. D. Roberts

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at https://www.gutenberg.org/license. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: New Poems

Author: Sir Charles G. D. Roberts

Release Date: July 10, 2019 [EBook #59897]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Al Haines

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ***

NEW POEMS

BY

CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS

LONDON

CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LIMITED

1919

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN.

CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.

TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

CONTENTS

TO SHAKESPEARE, IN 1916

"THE UNKNOWN CITY"

O EARTH, SUFFICING ALL OUR NEEDS

MONITION

ON THE ROAD

HILL TOP SONGS:

I. HERE ON THE HILL

II. WHEN THE LIGHTS COME OUT

IN THE VALLEY OF LUCHON

THE GOOD EARTH

WAYFARER OF EARTH

UNDER THE PILLARS OF THE SKY

ALL NIGHT THE LONE CICADA

EASTWARD BOUND

WHEN IN THE ROWAN TREE

WITH APRIL HERE

FROM THE HIGH WINDOW OF YOUR ROOM

THE HOUR OF MOST DESIRE

THE FLOWER

WHEN THE CLOUD COMES DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

THE STREAM

THE SUMMONS

THE PLACE OF HIS REST

GOING OVER

CAMBRAI AND MARNE

NEW POEMS

TO SHAKESPEARE, IN 1916

With what white wrath must turn thy bones,

What stern amazement flame thy dust,

To feel so near this England's heart

The outrage of the assassin's thrust!

How must thou burn to have endured

The acclaim of these whose fame unclean

Reeks from the "Lusitania's" slain,

Stinks from the orgies of Malines!

But surely, too, thou art consoled

(Who knew'st thy stalwart breed so well)

To see us rise from sloth, and go,

Plain and unbragging, through this hell.

And surely, too, thou art assured.

Hark how that grim and gathering beat

Draws upwards from the ends of earth,—

The tramp, tramp, of thy kinsmen's feet.

"THE UNKNOWN CITY"

There lies a city inaccessible,

Where the dead dreamers dwell.

Abrupt and blue, with many a high ravine

And soaring bridge half seen.

With many an iris cloud that comes and goes

Over the ancient snows,

The imminent hills environ it, and hold

Its portals from of old,

That grief invade not, weariness, nor war,

Nor anguish evermore.

White-walled and jettied on the peacock tide,

With domes and towers enskied,

Its battlements and balconies one sheen

Of ever-living green,

It hears the happy dreamers turning home

Slow-oared across the foam.

Cool are its streets with waters musical

And fountains' shadowy fall.

With orange and anemone and rose,

And every flower that blows

Of magic scent or unimagined dye,

Its gardens shine and sigh.

Its chambers, memoried with old romance

And faëry circumstance,—

From any window love may lean some time

For love that dares to climb.

This is that city babe and seer divined

With pure, believing mind.

This is the home of unachieved emprize.

Here, here the visioned eyes

Of them that dream past any power to do,

Wake to the dream come true.

Here the high failure, not the level fame,

Attests the spirit's aim.

Here is fulfilled each hope that soared and sought

Beyond the bournes of thought.

The obdurate marble yields; the canvas glows;

Perfect the column grows;

The chorded cadence art could ne'er attain

Crowns the imperfect strain;

And the great song that seemed to die unsung

Triumphs upon the tongue.

O EARTH, SUFFICING ALL OUR NEEDS

O earth, sufficing all our needs, O you

With room for body and for spirit too,

How patient while your children vex their souls

Devising alien heavens beyond your blue!

Dear dwelling of the immortal and unseen,

How obstinate in my blindness have I been,

Not comprehending what your tender calls,

Veiled promises and re-assurance, mean.

Not far and cold the way that they have gone

Who through your sundering darkness have withdrawn;

Almost within our hand-reach they remain

Who pass beyond the sequence of the dawn.

Not far and strange the Heaven, but very near,

Your children's hearts unknowingly hold dear.

At times we almost catch the door swung wide.

And unforgotten voice almost we hear,

I am the heir of Heaven—and you are just.

You, you alone I know—and you I trust.

I have sought God beyond his farthest star—

But here I find Him, in your quickening dust.

MONITION

A faint wind, blowing from World's End,

Made strange the city street.

A strange sound mingled in the fall

Of the familiar feet.

Something unseen whirled with the leaves

To tap on door and sill.

Something unknown went whispering by

Even when the wind was still.

And men looked up with startled eyes

And hurried on their way,

As if they had been called, and told

How brief their day.

ON THE ROAD

Ever just over the top of the next brown rise

I expect some wonderful thing to flatter my eyes.

"What's yonder?" I ask of the first wayfarer I meet.

"Nothing!" he answers, and looks at my travel-worn feet.

"Only more hills and more hills, like the many you've passed,

With rough country between, and a poor enough inn at the last."

But already I am a-move, for I see he is blind,

And I hate that old grumble I've listened to time out of mind.

I've tramped it too long not to know there is truth in it still,

That lure of the turn of the road, of the crest of the hill.

So I breast me the rise with full hope, well assured I shall see

Some new prospect of joy, some brave venture a tip-toe for me.

For I have come far, and confronted the calm and the strife.

I have fared wide, and bit deep in the apple of life.

It is sweet at the rind, but oh, sweeter still at the core;

And whatever be gained, yet the reach of the morrow is more.

At the crest of the hill I shall hail the new summits to climb.

The demand of my vision shall beggar the largess of time.

For I know that the higher I press, the wider I view,

The more's to be ventured and visioned, in worlds that are new.

So when my feet, failing, shall stumble in ultimate dark,

And faint eyes no more the high lift of the pathway shall mark,

There under the dew I'll lie down with my dreams, for I know

What bright hill-tops the morning will show me, all red in the glow.

HILL TOP SONGS

I

Here on the hill

At last the soul sees clear.

Desire being still

The High Unseen appear.

The thin grass bends

One way, and hushed attends

Unknown and gracious ends.

Where the sheep's pasturing feet

Have cleft the sods

The mystic light lies sweet;

The very clods,

In purpling hues elate,

Thrill to their fate;

The high rock-hollows wait,

Expecting gods.

II

When the lights come out in the cottages

Along the shores at eve,

And across the darkening water

The last pale shadows leave;

And up from the rock-ridged pasture slopes

The sheep-bell tinklings steal,

And the folds are shut, and the shepherds

Turn to their quiet meal;

And even here, on the unfenced height,

No journeying wind goes by,

But the earth-sweet smells, and the home-sweet sounds,

Mount, like prayer, to the sky;

Then from the door of my opened heart

Old blindness and pride are driven,

Till I know how high is the humble,

The dear earth how close to heaven.

IN THE VALLEY OF LUCHON

Day long, and night long,

From the soaring peaks and the snow,

Down through the valley villages

The cold white waters flow.

Quiet are the villages;

And very quiet the cloud

At rest on the breast of the mountain;

But the falling waves are loud

Through the little, clustering cottages,

Through the little, climbing fields,

Where every sunburnt vineyard

Its patch of purple yields.

High hung, a steel-bright scimitar,

The crooked glacier gleams.

The white church dreams in the valley

Where the red oleander dreams.

And every wonder of beauty

Comes, as a dream comes, true,

Where the sun drips rose from the ledges

And the moon by the peak swims blue.

THE GOOD EARTH

The smell of burning weeds

Upon the twilight air;

The piping of the frogs

From meadows wet and bare;

A presence in the wood,

And in my blood a stir;

In all the ardent earth

No failure or demur.

O spring wind, sweet with love

And tender with desire,

Pour into veins of mine

Your pure, impassioned fire.

O waters running free

With full, exultant song,

Give me, for outworn dream,

Life that is clean and strong.

O good Earth, warm with youth,

My childhood heart renew.

Make me elate, sincere,

Simple and glad, as you.

O springing things of green,

O waiting things of bloom,

O winging things of air,

Your lordship now resume.

WAYFARER OF EARTH

Up, Heart of mine,

Thou wayfarer of earth!

Of seed divine,

Be mindful of thy birth.

Though the flesh faint

Through long-endured constraint

Of nights and days,

Lift up thy praise

To life, that set thee in such strenuous ways,

And left thee not

To drowse and rot

In some thick-perfumed and luxurious plot.

Strong, strong is earth

With vigour for thy feet,

To make thy wayfaring

Tireless and fleet.

And good is earth,—

But earth not all thy good,

O thou with seed of suns

And star-fire in thy blood!

And though thou feel

The slow clog of the hours

Leaden upon thy heel,

Put forth thy powers.

Thine the deep sky,

The unpreëmpted blue,

The haste of storm,

The hush of dew.

Thine, thine the free

Exalt of star and tree,

The reinless run

Of wind and sun,

The vagrance of the sea.

UNDER THE PILLARS OF THE SKY

Under the pillars of the sky

I played at life, I knew not why.

The grave recurrence of the day

Was matter of my trivial play.

The solemn stars, the sacred night,

I took for toys of my delight,

Till now, with startled eyes, I see

The portents of Eternity.

ALL NIGHT THE LONE CICADA

All night the lone cicada

Kept shrilling through the rain,

A voice of joy undaunted

By unforgotten pain.

Down from the tossing branches

Rang out the high refrain,

By tumult undisheartened,

By storm assailed in vain.

To looming vasts of mountain,

To shadowy deeps of plain

The ephemeral, brave defiance

Adventured not in vain,—

Till to my faltering spirit,

And to my weary brain,

From loss and fear and failure

My joy returned again.

EASTWARD BOUND

We mount the arc of ocean's round

To meet the splendours of the sun;

Then downward rush into the dark

When the blue, spacious day is done.

The slow, eternal drift of stars

Draws over us until the dawn.

Then the grey steep we mount once more,

And night is down the void withdrawn.

Space, and interminable hours,

And moons that rise, and sweep, and fall,—

On-swinging earth, and orbéd sea,—

And voyaging souls more vast than all!

WHEN IN THE ROWAN TREE

When in the rowan tree

The coloured light fades slowly,

And the quiet dusk,

All lilied, breathes of you,

Then, Heart's Content,

I feel your hair enfolding me,

And tender comes the dark,

Bringing me—you.

And when across the sea

The rose-dawn opens slowly,

And the gold breaks, and the blue,

All glad of you,

Then, Heart's Reward,

Red, red is your mouth for me,

And life to me means love,

And love means—you.

WITH APRIL HERE

With April here,

And first thin green on the awakening bough,

What wonderful things and dear,

My tired heart to cheer,

At last appear!

Colours of dream afloat on cloud and tree,

So far, so clear,

A spell, a mystery;

And joys that thrill and sing,

New come on mating wing,

The wistfulness and ardour of the Spring,—

And Thou!

FROM THE HIGH WINDOW OF YOUR ROOM

From the high window of your room,

Above the roofs, and streets, and cries,

Lying awake and still, I watch

The wonder of the dawn arise.

Slow tips the world's deliberate rim,

Descending to the baths of day:

Up floats the pure, ethereal tide

And floods the outworn dark away.

The city's sprawled, uneasy bulk

Illumines slowly in my sight.

The crowded roofs, the common walls,

The grey streets, melt in mystic light.

It passes. Then, with longing sore

For that veiled light of paradise,

I turn my face,—and find it in

The wonder of your waking eyes.

THE HOUR OF MOST DESIRE

It is not in the day

That I desire you most,

Turning to seek your smile

For solace or for joy.

Nor is it in the dark,

When I toss restlessly,

Groping to find your face,

Half waking, half in dream.

It is not while I work,—

When, to endear success,

Or rob defeat of pain,

I weary for your hands.

Nor while from work I rest,

And rest is all unrest

For lack of your dear voice,

Your laughter, and your lips.

But every hour it is

That I desire you most,—

Need you in all my life

And every breath I breathe.

THE FLOWER

I am the man who found a flower,

A blossom blown upon the wind,

More radiant than the sunrise rose,

More sweet than lotus-airs of Ind.

I clutched the flower, and on my heart

I crushed its petals, red and burning.

O ecstasy of life new-born!

O youth returned, the unreturning!

I am the man who dared the Gods

And under their thunderbolts lay blest,

Because I found the flower, and wore it

One wild hour upon my breast.

WHEN THE CLOUD COMES DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

When the cloud comes down the mountain,

And the rain is loud on the leaves,

And the slim flies gather for shelter

Under my cabin eaves,—

Then my heart goes out to earth,

With the swollen brook runs free,

Drinks life with the drenched brown roots,

And climbs with the sap in the tree.

THE STREAM

I know a stream

Than which no lovelier flows.

Its banks a-gleam

With yarrow and wild rose,

Singing it goes

And shining through my dream.

Its waters glide

Beneath the basking noon,

A magic tide

That keeps perpetual June.

There the light sleeps

Unstirred by any storm;

The wild mouse creeps

Through tall weeds hushed and warm;

And the shy snipe,

Alighting unafraid;

With sudden pipe

Awakes the dreaming shade.

So long ago!

Still, still my memory hears

Its silver flow

Across the sundering years,—

Its roses glow,

Ah, through what longing tears!

THE SUMMONS

Deeps of the wind-torn west,

Flaming and desolate,

Upsprings my soul from his rest

With your banners at the gate.

'Neath this o'ermastering sky

How could the heart lie still,

Or the sluggish will

Content in the old chains lie,

When over the lonely hill

Your torn wild scarlets cry?

Up, Soul, and out

Into the deeps alone,

To the long peal and the shout

Of those trumpets blown and blown.

THE PLACE OF HIS REST

The green marsh-mallows

Are over him.

Along the shallows

The pale lights swim.

Wide air, washed grasses,

And waveless stream;

And over him passes

The drift of dream;—

The pearl-hue down

Of the poplar seed;

The elm-flower brown;

And the sway of the reed;

The blue moth, winged

With a flake of sky;

The bee, gold ringed;

And the dragon fly.

Lightly the rushes,

Lean to his breast;

A bird's wing brushes

The place of his rest.

The far-flown swallow,

The gold-finch flame,—

They come, they follow

The paths he came.

'Tis the land of No Care

Where now he lies,

Fulfilled the prayer

Of his weary eyes:

And while around him

The kind grass creeps,

Where peace hath found him

How sound he sleeps.

Well to his slumber

Attends the year:

Soft rains without number

Soft noons, blue clear,

With nights of balm,

And the dark, sweet hours

Brooding with calm,

Pregnant with flowers.

See how she speeds them,

Each childlike bloom,

And softly leads them

To tend his tomb!—

The white thorn nears

As the cowslip goes;

Then the iris appears;

And then, the rose.

GOING OVER

A girl's voice in the night troubled my heart.

Across the roar of the guns, the crash of the shells,

Low and soft as a sigh, clearly I heard it.

Where was the broken parapet, crumbling about me?

Where my shadowy comrades, crouching expectant?

A girl's voice in the dark troubled my heart.

A dream was the ooze of the trench, the wet clay slipping,

A dream the sudden out-flare of the wide-flung Verys.

I saw but a garden of lilacs, a-flower in the dusk.

What was the sergeant saying?—I passed it along.—

Did I pass it along? I was breathing the breath of the lilacs.

For a girl's voice in the night troubled my heart.

Over! How the mud sucks! Vomits red the barrage.

But I am far off in the hush of a garden of lilacs.

For a girl's voice in the night troubled my heart.

Tender and soft as a sigh, clearly I heard it.

CAMBRAI AND MARNE

Before our trenches at Cambrai

We saw their columns cringe away.

We saw their masses melt and reel

Before our line of leaping steel.

A handful to their storming hordes

We scourged them with the scourge of swords,

And still, the more we slew, the more

Came up for every slain a score.

Between the hedges and the town

Their cursing squadrons we rode down.

To stay them we outpoured our blood

Between the beetfields and the wood.

In that red hell of shrieking shell

Unfaltering our gunners fell.

They fell, or ere that day was done,

Beside the last unshattered gun.

But still we held them, like a wall

On which the breakers vainly fall—

Till came the word, and we obeyed,

Reluctant, bleeding, undismayed.

Our feet, astonished, learned retreat,

Our souls rejected still defeat.

Unbroken still, a lion at bay,

We drew back grimly from Cambrai.

In blood and sweat, with slaughter spent,

They thought us beaten as we went;

Till suddenly we turned and smote

The shout of triumph in their throat.

At last, at last we turned and stood—

And Marne's fair water ran with blood.

We stood by trench and steel and gun,

For now the indignant flight was done.

We ploughed their shaken ranks with fire.

We trod their masses into mire.

Our sabres drove through their retreat,

As drives the whirlwind through young wheat.

At last, at last we flung them back

Along their drenched and smoking track.

We hurled them back, in blood and flame,

The reeking ways by which they came.

By cumbered road and desperate ford,

How fled their shamed and harassed horde!

Shout, Sons of Freemen, for the day

When Marne so well avenged Cambrai!

CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.

TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that:

• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”

• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™

Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

Table of Contents

The Project Gutenberg eBook of New Poems, by Sir Charles G. D. Roberts

NEW POEMS

CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS

LONDON CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LIMITED 1919

CONTENTS

NEW POEMS

TO SHAKESPEARE, IN 1916

"THE UNKNOWN CITY"

O EARTH, SUFFICING ALL OUR NEEDS

MONITION

ON THE ROAD

HILL TOP SONGS

I

II

IN THE VALLEY OF LUCHON

THE GOOD EARTH

WAYFARER OF EARTH

UNDER THE PILLARS OF THE SKY

ALL NIGHT THE LONE CICADA

EASTWARD BOUND

WHEN IN THE ROWAN TREE

WITH APRIL HERE

FROM THE HIGH WINDOW OF YOUR ROOM

THE HOUR OF MOST DESIRE

THE FLOWER

WHEN THE CLOUD COMES DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

THE STREAM

THE SUMMONS

THE PLACE OF HIS REST

GOING OVER

CAMBRAI AND MARNE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE