2:23:01
Amen.
2:23:28
"The time you won
your town the race...
2:23:32
we chaired you
through the marketplace.
2:23:35
Man and boy stood cheering by...
2:23:38
as home we brought you,
shoulder high.
2:23:43
Smart lad,
to slip betimes away...
2:23:48
from fields where glory
does not stay.
2:23:52
Early though
the laurel grows...
2:23:55
it withers quicker than a rose.
2:23:59
Now you will not swell the rout...
2:24:01
of lads that wore their honours out.
2:24:05
Runners whom renown outran...
2:24:08
and the name died...
2:24:10
before the man.
2:24:14
And round that early laurelled head...
2:24:18
will flock to gaze
the strengthless dead...
2:24:22
and find unwithered on its curls...
2:24:27
a garland...
2:24:35
briefer than a girl's."
2:24:54
Now take back the soul
of Denys George Finch Hatton...