William Cowper read by Classic Poetry Aloud

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Giving voice to the poetry of the past.

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The Poplar Field

by William Cowper (1731 – 1800)

The poplars are fell'd! farewell to the shade

And the whispering sound of the cool colonnade;

The winds play no longer and sing in the leaves,

Nor Ouse on his bosom their image receives.

Twelve years have elapsed since I last took a view

Of my favourite field, and the bank where they grew;

And now in the grass behold they are laid,

And the tree is my seat that once lent me a shade!

The blackbird has fled to another retreat

Where the hazels afford him a screen from the heat,

And the scene where his melody charm'd me before

Resounds with his sweet-flowing ditty no more.

My fugitive years are all hasting away,

And I must ere long lie as lowly as they,

With a turf on my breast and a stone at my head,

Ere another such grove shall arise in its stead.

The change both my heart and my fancy employs,

I reflect on the frailty of man and his joys;

Short-lived as we are, yet our pleasures, we see,

Have a still shorter date, and die sooner than we.

Reading © Classic Poetry Aloud, 2008.