"Seen many a Comrade droop, & strove to steel / His heart, but still the Woes of War could fee / With Other Woes."
— Crabbe, George (1754-1832)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Liverpool
Publisher
Liverpool University Press
Date
1826
Metaphor
"Seen many a Comrade droop, & strove to steel / His heart, but still the Woes of War could fee / With Other Woes."
Metaphor in Context
To many a Cottage the kind Pair wd stray;
Go where they would, they could not loose their Way.
In some poor household they would find a Seat,
And hear the Children what they taught repeat.
Where stands the Parish Bound a Cottage stood,
Just at the Entrance of a noble Wood,
A larger Cottage this, though not a Farm,
With Land annexed, to keep the Woodman warm.
It was a favourite Walk, the Widowed Pair
Amusement found, & left Instruction there.
In Youth the Woodman had a Soldier been,
And much of Hazard, nay, of Horror seen,
Seen many a Comrade droop, & strove to steel
His heart, but still the Woes of War could feel
With Other Woes; He home returned to trace
The long lov'd Features in his Father's face,
To lay him in his Grave, & fill his humble Place.
To him, now married, & a favourite Room
That she erected, would the Lady come
In Summer oft; 'twas now the Time of Year
When the red Cornel & wild Plumb appear,
When the brown Wood has all its Verdure lost,
And the faint Sun just melts the Morning frost,
When Gossimer o'er stubbled Fields is spread,
And the Dew glitters on the filmy Thread.
Go where they would, they could not loose their Way.
In some poor household they would find a Seat,
And hear the Children what they taught repeat.
Where stands the Parish Bound a Cottage stood,
Just at the Entrance of a noble Wood,
A larger Cottage this, though not a Farm,
With Land annexed, to keep the Woodman warm.
It was a favourite Walk, the Widowed Pair
Amusement found, & left Instruction there.
In Youth the Woodman had a Soldier been,
And much of Hazard, nay, of Horror seen,
Seen many a Comrade droop, & strove to steel
His heart, but still the Woes of War could feel
With Other Woes; He home returned to trace
The long lov'd Features in his Father's face,
To lay him in his Grave, & fill his humble Place.
To him, now married, & a favourite Room
That she erected, would the Lady come
In Summer oft; 'twas now the Time of Year
When the red Cornel & wild Plumb appear,
When the brown Wood has all its Verdure lost,
And the faint Sun just melts the Morning frost,
When Gossimer o'er stubbled Fields is spread,
And the Dew glitters on the filmy Thread.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Crabbe, George. New Poems by George Crabbe. Ed. Arthur Pollard. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1960.
Date of Entry
06/09/2005
