Previous Poem  |  Return to the Poetry index page  |  Next Poem The Revolution by Donald Hall from The Happy Man (1986) In the Great Hall where Lady Ann by firelight after dining alone nodded and dreamed that her cousin Rathwell turned into a unicorn, and woke shuddering, and was helped to her chambers, undressed, and looked after, and in the morning arose to read Mrs. Hemans, sitting prettily on a garden bench, with no sound disturbing her whorled ear but the wind and the wind's apples falling,                             the servants tended fires, answered bells, plucked grouse, rolled sward, fetched eggs, clipped hedge, mended linen, baked scones, and served tea. While Lady Ann grew pale playing the piano, and lay late in bed aging, she regretted Rathwell who ran off to Ceylon with his indescribable desires, and vanished — leaving her to the servants who poached, larked, drank up the cellar, emigrated without notice, copulated, conceived,                             and begot us. Previous Poem  |  Return to the Poetry index page  |  Next Poem

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