1 When the grey geese heard the Fool’s tread Too near to where they lay, They lifted neither voice nor head, But took themselves away. 2 No water broke, no pinion whirred- There went no warning call. The steely, sheltering rushes stirred A little—that was all. 3 Only the osiers understood, And the drowned meadows spied What else than wreckage of a flood Stole outward on that tide. 4 But the far beaches saw their ranks Gather and greet and grow By myriads on the naked banks Watching their sign to go; 5 Till, with a roar of wings that churned The shivering shoals to foam, Flight after flight took air and turned To find a safer home; 6 And, far below their steadfast wedge, They heard (and hastened on) Men thresh and clamour through the sedge Aghast that they were gone! 7 And, when men prayed them come anew And nest where they were bred, “Nay, fools foretell what knaves will do," Was all the grey geese said.
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