55834: The Child in the Orchard

<p dir="ltr"> 'He rolls in the orchard: he is stained with moss<br> And with earth, the solitary old white horse.<br> Where is his father and where is his mother<br> Among all the brown horses? Has he a brother?<br> I know the swallow, the hawk, and the hern;<br> But there are two million things for me to learn.<br> 'Who was the lady that rode the white horse<br> With rings and bells to Banbury Cross?<br> Was there no other lady in England beside<br> That a nursery rhyme could take for a ride?<br> The swift, the swallow, the hawk, and the hern.<br> There are two million things for me to learn.<br> 'Was there a man once who straddled across<br> The back of the Westbury White Horse<br> Over there on Salisbury Plain's green wall?<br> Was he bound for Westbury, or had he a fall?<br> The swift, the swallow, the hawk and the hern.<br> There are two million things for me to learn.<br> 'Out of all the white horses I know three,<br> At the age of six; and it seems|</p><p>File description(s)::</p><p>This poem is named by Thomas, 'Edward Thomas: Collected Poems' [138] after its first line ('He rolls in the orchard: He is stained with moss') and as 'The Child in the Orchard' by Longley, 'Edward Thomas: The Annotated Collected Poems'.</p>