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Thomas Hardy : Afternoon Service at Mellstock

	On afternoons of drowsy calm
		We stood in panelled pew,
Singing one-voiced a Tate-and-Brady psalm
		To the tune of “Cambridge New.”

	We watched the elms, we watched the rooks,
		The clouds upon the breeze,
Between the whiles of glancing at our books,
		And swaying like the trees.

	So mindless were those outpourings!—
		Though I am not aware
That I have gained by subtle thought on things
		Since we stood psalming there. 

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)	?

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