The brown leaves fall in umber woods,
The trees shake off their gowns;
And all the hues of summer’s moods...
Poems inspired by the Manx countryside and people in a variety of styles, on a range of themes encompassing joy in the gift of life, the beauty of the natural world, Manx culture, memory, the passing of time, death, and Christian faith.
Excerpts of all poems in this category are arranged alphabetically by title below. To read the full poem click the excerpt title or the “Read whole entry” link.
For an alphabetical list of titles of these poems Click here
The brown leaves fall in umber woods,
The trees shake off their gowns;
And all the hues of summer’s moods...
A dim and lovely region full of shade,
Brown leaves that spread a carpet for the feet;
An aisle between ...
All hail the Island Kingdom !
All hail its mighty clan !
Where flies the flag of freedom
Above the ...
Where Santon’s stream winds through its gorge
And little waterfalls
Make music in the humid air
A subtle presence everywhere...
More gorgeous citadels than man can build,
Can build, or plan, bolder in sheer design
Than all his most advanced ...
The Escalonia smells sweet
After a shower of rain,
Its waxy flowers like babies’ feet
Shine in the sun again....
Moored to the wall my little boat
Sits on the harbour bed
Inert, forlorn;
Like some outworn
And shabby garment ...
Trim on the tarmac, shapelier than the plane,
Sleek, streamlined for the job, with tapping heels
She walks, hat cocked, ...
He ambled along
With never a friend,
With never a song
Some gladness to lend.
His hair lay like snow...
Away beyond the seething foam
Where curlews call with plaintive cries
I seem to hear the whisper, “Come”
And see ...
Beyond the sun is an immeasurable void;
Beyond the laughter is a gulf of tears.
The bright facade of living ...
To live within a cave is not so good.
All sights and sounds of men are thereby barred
Save at ...
Oh, where were you going in such great haste?
Seeing nothing around you, your eyes straight ahead?
Was it something ...
Above us is a star-gemmed canopy
That leans upon Slieu Whallian’s shoulder here.
There, farther off, Barrule waits stealthily
For ...
The rock is smooth. It faintly shines,
Containing in itself some residue of light
That down the ages suns
Succeeding ...
Let pagan mistletoe hang in the hall,
And holly with its prickles and its bright
Vermilion berries grace the festive ...
As I was going to Tynwald Fair
I met a merry maiden,
I said to her, “Why go you there?...
How huge are horses in the dusk. They loom
Tremendous where they stand against the sky,
Etched like great statues, ...
To strike the blow
When passions rise,
And tempers glow
In angry eyes,
Is not to show
An action wise....
Back in the days when the mountains were new,
Long long ago,
Love then was faithful and steadfast and true,...
Mary Ann, Mary Ann,
From the little Isle of Mann,
She’s the sweetest of her clan,
She’s a darling!
She’s ...
The ravages of winter seam her face
Where tears like mountain becks once coursed her cheek,
But still there lingers ...
Oh, Ellan Vannin calls to me
Across the intervening sea
With a seductive voice.
Where’er my labour turns my feet,...
No more by the light of the harvest moon
Do they glean in the stubble fields;
No more in the ...
Deep buried out of sight of men
Under the crust of ages lies
What can bring power and light to ...
He comes upon a donkey sat;
Hosannas loud I cry,
And spread my garments at His feet
As He is ...
The piano notes fall through the air
Soft drops of rain that kiss
My soul and bathe my body
Wash ...
The long grass that waved so bravely
Head high and haughty in the lush meadow
Shining its green gold in ...
Sad eyes of little furry creatures
Haunt the mind with an unease;
Life has many sombre features,
Few as harrowing ...
From the high brow of Snaefell one can see
The island like a ship from stem to stern.
There thrusts ...
When stars are bright and lights are low
I hear at night the undertow.
The distant scream of pebbles round...
Here falls the light unstained by glass
In a white flood in grass
And only shadows pass.
Birds on ...
She sang in the garden
An old island song,
Her sister and warden
Her chair pushed along.
Her voice was ...
Maybe it’s like they should have known
To hang the kern outside the door;
But they were busy at the ...
Walking the country roads at night
Or in the early hours of morning,
I lack not company despite
The dark ...
What can this be here in this dusty loft,
What the light finds when I unclose the door;
This frame, ...
Below the mountain’s flank
Uprearing to the sky,
Where spur and rock and shoulder rank
Round snaefell’s majesty,
Deep ...
When all is quiet where there has been laughter,
And the last voice has faded down the lane,
The house ...
I heard someone whistling in the night,
Outside my window in the dead of night.
It was a plaintive air....