Traveller, Poet and Knight of the Realm.

Sir Stanley Coulton (1853 - 1915)

Sir Stanley Coulton was a wit, a raconteur and an artist. He was a philanthropist and keen rose gardener (penning several volumes on the subject). He is best remembered for his elegaiac and thoughtful poetry. He captured a real sense of longing and loss, especially in his widely read collection on the North York Moors and the Black Meadow.


Tuesday 10 June 2014

The Hole Goes Too Deep (1889)

When on his visits to the North York Moors, Sir Stanley Coulton gathered various pieces of folklore. He was particularly struck by the legend of "The Watcher in the Village" and several differing stories that concerned creatures that lived at the bottom of holes or wells.

The hole goes too deep
It looks up so dark and black
A stone drops down
There is no splash
No sound echoing back

The base lies so far
So distant flies that stone
It falls and spins
There is no thud
To tell it has hit home

And yet if I look
If I squint my eyes and stare
Into the pitch
White blinking eyes
Call to me from there

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