Impression Du Matin

Camomile Tea

by Katherine Mansfield

Outside the sky is light with stars;
There’s a hollow roaring from the sea.
And, alas! for the little almond flowers,
The wind is shaking the almond tree.

How little I thought, a year ago,
In the horrible cottage upon the Lee
That he and I should be sitting so
And sipping a cup of camomile tea.

Light as feathers the witches fly,
The horn of the moon is plain to see;
By a firefly under a jonquil flower
A goblin toasts a bumble-bee.

We might be fifty, we might be five,
So snug, so compact, so wise are we!
Under the kitchen-table leg
My knee is pressing against his knee.

Our shutters are shut, the fire is low,
The tap is dripping peacefully;
The saucepan shadows on the wall
Are black and round and plain to see.

Questions at Night

by Louis Untermeyer

Why
Is the sky?

What starts the thunder overhead?
Who makes the crashing noise?
Are the angels falling out of bed?
Are they breaking all their toys?

Why does the sun go down so soon?
Why do the night-clouds crawl
Hungrily up to the new-laid moon
And swallow it, shell and all?

If there's a Bear among the stars,
As all the people say,
Won't he jump over those Pasture-bars
And drink up the Milky Way?

Does every star that happens to fall
Turn into a fire-fly?
Can't it ever get back to Heaven at all?
And why
Is the sky?

She walks in beauty

by George Gordon Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

Us Two

by A.A. Milne

Wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
Whatever I do, he wants to do,
" Where are you going today? " says Pooh:
" Well, that's very odd 'cos I was too.
Let's go together, " says Pooh, says he.
" Let's go together, " says Pooh.

" What's twice eleven? " I said to Pooh.
(" Twice what? " said Pooh to Me.)
" I think it ought to be twenty-two."
" Just what I think myself, " said Pooh.
" It wasn't an easy sum to do,
But that's what it is, " said Pooh, said he.
" That's what it is, " said Pooh.

" Let's look for dragons, " I said to Pooh.
" Yes, let's, " said Pooh to Me.
We crossed the river and found a few-
" Yes, those are dragons all right, " said Pooh.
" As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.
That's what they are, " said Pooh, said he.
" That's what they are, " said Pooh.

" Let's frighten the dragons, " I said to Pooh.
" That's right, " said Pooh to Me.
" I'm not afraid, " I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted " Shoo!
Silly old dragons! " - and off they flew.
" I wasn't afraid, " said Pooh, said he,
" I'm never afraid with you."

So wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
" What would I do? " I said to Pooh,
" If it wasn't for you, " and Pooh said: " True,
It isn't much fun for One, but Two,
Can stick together, says Pooh, says he.
" That's how it is, " says Pooh.

Impression Du Matin