A woman sits on an object next to a pond. She is leaning over so that her arms rest
on her lap. She is surrounded by wildlife
and there is a beehive in front of her. There is a small house in the background.
3/4-page illustration contained within a
single-ruled rectangular border.
III.—On the Borders of Cannock Chase.
A cottager leaned whispering by her hives,1
Telling the bees some news, as they lit down,2
And entered one by one their waxen town,3
Larks passioning hung o’er their brooding wives,4
And all the sunny hills where heather thrives,5
Lay satisfied with peace. A stately crown6
Of trees enringed the upper headland brown,7
And reedy pools, wherein the moorhen dives,8
Glittered and-gleamed.
A-resting-place for light,9
A-resting-place for light,9
They that were bred here love it ; but they say,10
“ We shall-not have it long ; in three years’ time11
A hundred pits will cast out fires by night,12
Down yon still-glen their smoke shall trail its way,13
And the white ash lie thick in lieu of rime.”14