POETRY.

SHERWOOD.

Snuawoon in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake ? Grey and ghostly shadows are gliding thro' 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 thieves Hear a ghostly bugle-note shivering tluxe the leaves, Calling as he used to call, faint and far away, In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Merry, merry England has kissed the lips of Jane:

All the wings of fairyland were here beneath the moon ; Like a flight of rose leaves fluttering in a mist

Of opal and ruby and pearl and amethyst.

Merry, merry England is waking as of old, With eyes of blither hazel and hair of brighter gold : For Robin Hood is here again beneath the bursting spray In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Love is in the greenwood building him a house Of 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 grey 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 hidden in a rose Hears across the greenwood the sunny whisper leap, Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep ?

Hark, the voice of England wakes him as of old And, shattering the silence with a cry of brighter gold, A bugle in the greenwood echoes from the steep, 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 thro' 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! Poi/ow! and the boughs begin to crash ; The ferns begin to waver 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 thro' the leaves :

Calling as he used to call, faint and far sway, In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

ALFRED NOTE&