On Wenlock Edge: VI. Clun

CLUN

In valleys of springs and rivers,

By Ony and Teme and Clun,

The country for easy livers,

The quietest under the sun,

We still had sorrows to lighten,

One could not be always glad,

And lads knew trouble at Knighton

When I was a Knighton lad.

By bridges that Thames runs under,

In London, the town built ill,

‘Tis sure small matter for wonder

If sorrow is with one still.

And if as a lad grows older

The troubles he bears are more,

He carries his griefs on a shoulder

That handselled them long before.

Where shall one halt to deliver

This luggage I’d lief set down?

Not Thames, not Teme is the river,

Nor London nor Knighton the town:

‘Tis a long way further than Knighton,

A quieter place than Clun,

Where doomsday may thunder and lighten

And little ‘twill matter to one.

A. E. Housman 1859-1936