Tell Me Not Here, It Needs Not Saying Poem by Alfred Edward Housman

Tell Me Not Here, It Needs Not Saying

Rating: 3.2


Tell me not here, it needs not saying,
What tune the enchantress plays
In aftermaths of soft September
Or under blanching mays,
For she and I were long acquainted
And I knew all her ways.

On russet floors, by waters idle,
The pine lets fall its cone;
The cuckoo shouts all day at nothing
In leafy dells alone;
And traveller’s joy beguiles in autumn
Hearts that have lost their own.

On acres of the seeded grasses
The changing burnish heaves;
Or marshalled under moons of harvest
Stand still all night the sheaves;
Or beeches strip in storms for winter
And stain the wind with leaves.

Posses, as I possessed a season,
The countries I resign,
Where over elmy plains the highway
Would mount the hills and shine,
And full of shade the pillared forest
Would murmur and be mine.

For nature, heartless, witless nature,
Will neither care nor know
What stranger’s feet may find the meadow
And trespass there and go,
Nor ask amid the dews of morning
If they are mine or no.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Kevin Hulme 21 March 2023

Love Housman's poems on the Countryside. It's the only time I get out in the fresh air.

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Sylvia Frances Chan 21 March 2023

In this poem, which comes near the end of the collection, Housman reflects on his relationship with nature, before concluding that, although nature does not care or even know about him, he feels a close bond with it.. Very Impressive poem. Top Marks!

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Bruk Renwick 21 March 2023

The measure in this poem is really spot on

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