Thomas Hardy: Nobody Comes

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Early automotive headlamp equipped with Corning Conaphore lens: photo by Schweinwerfermann, 21 December 2007

.....Tree-leaves labour up and down,
..........And through them the fainting light
..........Succumbs to the crawl of night.
.....Outside in the road the telegraph wire
..........To the town from the darkening land
Intones to travelers like a spectral lyre
..........Swept by a spectral hand.

.....A car comes up, with lamps full-glare,
..........That flash upon a tree:
..........It has nothing to do with me,
.....And whangs along in a world of its own,
..........Leaving a blacker air;
And mute by the gate I stand again alone,
.....And nobody pulls up there.

...............................9 October 1924

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928): Nobody Comes, from Human Shows, Far Phantasies, Songs and Trifles (1925)

In Came Wood, Dorset. The bridleway towards Warren Barn runs for a short way inside Came Wood, a deciduous woodland: photo by Graham Horn, 19 November 2007

Bridleway towards Warren Barn. The northern part of Came Wood is to the left. The bridleway drops to a minor valley before continuing towards Warren Barn. Arable land to the right: photo by Graham Horn, 19 November 2007

Study at Max Gate, Dorchester: photo by neilsonabeel, 19 April 2012

Dorset woodland: photo by cjb22, 28 December 2010