Old Susan
Walter de la Mare
1873 to 1956
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. Take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
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Only to tilt her book again,
Would mumble a sentence audibly,
With—'You!—I thought you was in bed!'—
Unless some far-off cock crowed clear;
Another page; and rapt and stern,
And rooted in Romance remain.
When Susan's work was done, she'd sit
She'd glance into reality;
The sweet night air to enter in;
And window opened wide to win
Her mild eyes gliding very slow
In the wind that through the window came.
Through her great glasses bent on me
Or her old shuffling thumb should turn
With one fat guttering candle lit,
Across the letters to and fro,
'You silly souls, to act this way!'
And never a sound from night I'd hear,
And sometimes in the silence she
And shake her round old silvery head,
She'd read, with stern and wrinkled face.
While wagged the guttering candle flame
There, with a thumb to keep her place
Or shake her head as if to say,