Page:Wessex poems and other verses (IA wessexpoemsother00hard).pdf/219

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

THE TWO MEN

Meantime his schoolmate had gone out
To join the fortune-finding rout;
He liked the winnings of the mart,
But wearied of the working part.

He turned to seek a privy lair,
Neglecting note of garb and hair,
And day by day reclined and thought
How he might live by doing nought.

"I plan a valued scheme," he said
To some. "But lend me of your bread,
And when the vast result looms nigh,
In profit you shall stand as I."

Yet they took counsel to restrain
Their kindness till they saw the gain;
And, since his substance now had run,
He rose to do what might be done.

He went unto his Love by night.
And said: "My Love, I faint in fight:
Deserving as thou dost a crown.
My cares shall never drag thee down."

203