`If a chap can't compose an epic poem while he's weaving tapestry he had better shut up.'
   

William Morris (1834-1896) was a brilliant designer, a political thinker, and one of the most popular poets of his day. While his designs are still prized, his poetry has fallen into neglect. This selection, the only one currently available, contains the best of his short poems, ranging from dramatic narratives with medieval settings to romantic lyrics to `Chants for Socialists'. His verse is crafted and robust, something to be enjoyed like other well-made objects; vivid and durable, it is at the heart of his creative vision.

Peter Faulkner teaches in the School of English and American Studies at the University of Exeter. He has written several books about Morris and is editor of the William Morris Society Journal.

Table of Contents

Introduction



Suggested Reading



From The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems (1858)

            The Defence of Guenevere

            King Arthur's Tomb

            Near Avalon

            The Haystack in the Floods

            Concerning Geffray Teste Noire

            The Judgment of God

            Golden Wings

            The Wind

            The Blue Closet

            The Tune of Seven Towers

            Praise of My Lady





From The Life and Death of Jason (1867)



From The Earthly Paradise (1868-70)



            Apology

            March

            April

            May

            June

            July

            August

            September

            October

            November

            December

            January

            February



            Song from 'The Love of Alcestis'



Song from 'Ogier the Dane'



            L'Envoi



  Poems of the 'Earthly Paradise' time

            Hapless Love



            Written in a copy of The Earthly Paradise, Dec.25,1870



            Sad-eyed and Soft and Grey

            Rhyme Slayeth Shame

            May Grown a-Cold

            As this Thin Thread

            Fair Weather and Foul

            Why Dost Thou Struggle

            Our Hands Have Met

            O Far Away to Seek



From Love is Enough (1872)



From Poems by the Way (1891)



            Love Fulfilled

            Thunder in the Garden

            To the Muse of the North

            Iceland First Seen

            Gunnar's Howe above the House at Lithend

            The Message of the March Wind

            Mother and Son

            The Voice of Toil

            All for the Cause

            A Death Song

            Pomona

            Flora

            The Woodpecker

            The Lion

            Mine and Thine

            The Folk-Mote by the River

            For the Bed at Kelmscott



The William Morris Society