A. E. Housman — On moonlit heath and lonesome bank

                  IX          On moonlit heath and lonesome bank          The sheep beside me graze; And yon the gallows used to clank          Fast by the four cross ways.          A careless shepherd once would keep          The flocks by moonlight there, (1) And high amongst the glimmering sheep          The dead man stood on air.          They hang us now in Shrewsbury jail:          The whistles blow forlorn, And trains all night groan on the rail          To men that die at morn.          There sleeps in Shrewsbury jail to-night,          Or wakes, as may betide, A better lad, if things went right,          Than most that sleep outside.          And naked to the hangman's noose          The morning clocks will ring A neck God made for other use          Than strangling in a string.          And sharp the link of life will snap,          And dead on air will stand Heels that held up as straight a chap          As treads upon the land.          So here I'll watch the night and wait          To see the morning shine, When he will hear the stroke of eight          And not the stroke of nine;          And wish my friend as sound a sleep          As lads' I did not know, That shepherded the moonlit sheep          A hundred years ago.                   (1) Hanging in chains was called keeping sheep by moonlight.