When smoke into aether went,
And dust along the highway whirled
With breezes from the downs of Kent,
And mists about the houses curled,
Winds came at times and brought the scent
Of roses from the outer world.
But when the snow-clouds veiled the sky,
And dreary was the town of Lee,
And carts unseen went rumbling by,
And all was dull as death could be,
There came a whirring and a cry,
And geese went over to the sea;
And brought us glimpses as they flew
Of that which lived beyond the town,
Where rushes by the waters grew
And all the hills went sloping down
To meet the moor, where ever blew
The wind that turns the woodlands brown.