She sits in the tawny vapour
That the Thames-side lanes have uprolled
Behind whose webby fold on fold
Like a waning taper
The street-lamp glitters cold

A messenger's knock cracks smartly
Flashed news is in her hand
Of meaning it dazes to understand
Though shaped so shortly:
He - has fallen - in the far South Land...

'Tis the morrow; the fog hangs thicker
The postman nears and goes:
A letter is brought whose lines disclose
By the firelight flicker
His hand, whom the worm now knows:

Fresh-firm-penned in highest feather -
Page-full of his hoped return
And of home-planned jaunts by brake and burn
In the summer weather
And of new love that they would learn