Sherwood in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake?
Grey and ghostly shadows are gliding through the brake; Shadows of the dappled deer, dreaming of the morn, Dreaming of a shadowy man that winds a shadowy horn.
Robin Hood is here again. All his merry thievesHear a ghostly bugle-note shivering through the leaves, Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Love is in the greenwood building him a houseOf wild rose and hawthorn and honeysuckle boughs. Love is in the greenwood, dawn is in the skies;And Marian is waiting with a glory in her eyes.
Hark! the dazzled laverock climbs the golden steep, Marian is waiting-is Robin Hood asleep?
Round the fairy grass-rings frolic elf and fay,In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Oberon, Oberon, rake away the gold,
Rake away the red leaves, roll away the mould, Rake away the gold leaves, roll away the red,And wake Will Scarlett from his leafy forest bed.
Friar Tuck and Little John are riding down together,With quarter-staff and drinking can and gray goose-feather. The dead are coming back again; the years are rolled away In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Softly over Sherwood the south wind blows, All the heart of England hid in every roseHears across the greenwood the sunny whisper leap- Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?
Where the deer are gliding down the shadowy glen All across the glades of fern he calls his merry men;Doublets of the Lincoln green glancing through the may In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day;Calls them and they answer. From aisles of oak and ash Rings the Follow! Follow! and the boughs begin to crash; The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly;And through the crimson dawning the robber band goes by.
Robin! Robin! Robin! All his merry thieves
Answer as the bugle-note shivers through the leaves, Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Alfred Noyes
Author.-Alfred Noyes, a living English poet, was born in 1880. He was for a time a professor of English in American universities. Many of his poems deal with the sea, one of his best-known books being entitled Forty Singing Seamen.
General.-Do you like the metre? Can you find a distinct pause or break in each line? Why does such romance cling to Robin Hood if, in plain terms, he was a thief? How many members of Robin"s band are mentioned At what period did they live? What great Scottish author writes of Robin Hood? In which book? Who was Oberon? What do you notice about this line- "The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly "? Which line in the poem do you like best?