Westward on the high-hilled plains

	LV

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

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

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.

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

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 ▲ Commentary

Line	Commentary
	Date: Jan 1895 (fragment), May-July 1895 (draft)
1	Westward: once again the emotional focus is to the west
meter	Four line stanzas of seven syllables, rhymed alternately

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?
16	How do you interpret the final line? What is the vow?