XXVII. ["Is my team ploughing,]

"Is my team ploughing,
 That I was used to drive
And hear the harness jingle
 When I was man alive?"

Ay, the horses trample,
 The harness jingles now;
No change though you lie under
 The land you used to plough.

"Is football playing
 Along the river shore,
With lads to chase the leather,
 Now I stand up no more?"

Ay, the ball is flying,
 The lads play heart and soul;
The goal stands up, the keeper
 Stands up to keep the goal.

"Is my girl happy,
 That I thought hard to leave,
And has she tired of weeping
 As she lies down at eve?"

Ay, she lies down lightly,
 She lies not down to weep:
Your girl is well contented.
 Be still, my lad, and sleep.

"Is my friend hearty,
 Now I am thin and pine,
And has he found to sleep in
 A better bed than mine?"

Yes, lad, I lie easy,
 I lie as lads would choose;
I cheer a dead man's sweetheart,
 Never ask me whose.
XXVII. ["Is my team ploughing,]

by A. E. Housman, 1896
