Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Walter Crane 1845–1915

Across the Fields

Crane-Wa

ACROSS the fields like swallows fly

Sweet thoughts and sad of days gone by;

From Life’s broad highway turned away,

Like children, Thought and Memory play

Nor heed Time’s scythe though grass be high.

Beneath the blue and shoreless sky

Time is but told when seedlings dry

By Love’s light breath are blown, like spray,

Across the fields.

Now comes the scent of fallen hay,

And flowers bestrew the foot-worn clay,

And summer breathes a passing sigh

As westward rolls the day’s gold eye,

And Time with Labor ends his day

Across the fields.