Dicky
DICKY by ROBERT GRAVES
*Mother:*
Oh, what a heavy sigh!
Dicky, are you ailing?
*Dicky:*
Even by this fireside, mother,
My heart is failing.
To-night, across the down,
Whistling and jolly,
I sauntered out from town
With my stick of holly.
Bounteous and cool from sea
The wind was blowing,
Cloud shadows under the moon
Coming and going.
I sang old roaring songs,
Ran and leaped quick,
And turned home by St. Swithin's
Twirling my stick.
And there as I was passing
The churchyard gate,
An old man stopped me, 'Dicky,
You're walking late.'
I did not know the man,
I grew afeared
At his lean, lolling jaw,
His spreading beard,
His garments old and musty,
Of antique cut,
His body very lean and bony,
His eyes tight shut.
Oh, even to tell it now
My courage ebbs...
His face was clay, mother,
His beard, cobwebs.
In that long horrid pause
'Good-night,' he said,
Entered and clicked the gate,
'Each to his bed.'
*Mother:*
Do not sigh or fear, Dicky.
How is it right
To grudge the dead their ghostly dark
And wan moonlight?
We have the glorious sun,
Lamp and fireside.
Grudge not the dead their moon-beams
When abroad they ride.
| Title |
Dicky
|
|---|---|
| Author |
Graves, Robert (1895-1985)
|
| Item date |
(1995, 1997, 1999)
|
| Content | |
| Copyright |
The Robert Graves Copyright Trust
|
| Digital repository | |
| Repository name |
ProQuest
|
| Repository address URL | |
| First line |
Oh, what a heavy sigh!
|
| Publication source |
Robert Graves Complete Poems: Volumes 1 - 3
|
| Publication editor |
Graves, Beryl and Ward, Dunstan
|
| Publishers |
Carcanet
|
| Publication place |
Manchester
|
Collection
Citation
“Dicky,” by Graves, Robert (1895-1985). The Robert Graves Copyright Trust via First World War Poetry Digital Archive, accessed May 19, 2024, http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/3400.
Permitted Use
This item is available for non-commercial educational use under the terms of the Jisc Model Licence. Further details available at: http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/permitteduse
