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A Shropshire Lad: LV
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| V | Westward on the high-hilled plains | | C | |
| Where for me the world began, | | | |
| V | Still, I think, in newer veins | | | |
| V | Frets the changeless blood of man. | | | Q |
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| V | Now that other lads than I | 5 | | |
| Strip to bathe on Severn shore, | | | |
| V | They, no help, for all they try, | | | |
| V | Tread the mill I trod before. | | | Q |
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| V | There, when hueless is the west | | | |
| V | And the darkness hushes wide, | 10 | | |
| V | Where the lad lies down to rest | | | Q |
| V | Stands the troubled dream beside. | | | |
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| V | There, on thoughts that once were mine, | | | |
| Day looks down the eastern steep, | | | |
| And the youth at morning shine | 15 | | |
| Makes the vow he will not keep. | | | Q |
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Key: V: Textual Variation. C: Commentary. Q: Question. Glossary
ASL LV "Westward on the high-hilled plains"
Top ▲ Glossary
| Line | Word | Glossary |
| 8 | mill | The treadmill, part of the "hard-labour" used as punishment in prison |
| 9 | hueless | Colourless |
Top ▲ Variations
| Line |
Text |
Textual variation |
| 1 | D | high-hilled] <hills and> |
| 3 | D | I think,] \ be sure, <for sure>, / |
| 4 | D | changeless] <ancient> |
| 5 | D | lads] <men> |
| 7 | D | <Other men,> \ They, I think, / for all they try, → They<,> must needs, \ no help / for all they try <,> |
| 8 | D | mill] <road<s>> \ round / |
| 9 | Dd1 | <There when down the west> |
| 9 | Dd2 | There, when ashen is the west |
| 10 | D | darkness hushes] twilight \ darkness / hushes → silence settles |
| 11 | Dd1 | Still above the sleeping breast |
| 11 | Dd2 | <Sure as \ <Still where> / lads lie down to rest> → Where the lad lies down to rest> |
| 12 | Dd1 | Stands] Bends |
| 13 | Dd1 | There to clearer \ later / eyes than mine |
| 13 | Dd2 | There to eyes that wake like mine \ clearer than / There on thoughts that once were mine |
Top ▲ Questions
| Line |
Question |
| 4 | Why do you think the poet preferred "changeless" to "ancient"? What does this alteration do to the meaning of the poem? |
| 8 | What does this line have to say about the human life? |
| 9 | What effect does the change from "ashen" to "hueless" have? |
| 11 | Compare the draft versions of this line:
a. Still above the sleeping breast
b. Sure as lads lie down to rest
c. Where the lad lies down to rest
With the final version: Where the lad lies down to rest. What are the merits of each?
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| 16 | How do you interpret the final line? What is the vow? |
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