Beside the River Wye

At Tintern Abbey I set my bait

To fish in the River Wye,

I’d only been an hour, I swear

When the girl came floating by,

Her dress spread out, a fine brocade

And some lace about her hair,

I almost drowned when I reeled her in

And fell in the river there.

 

I pulled her up on the river bank

And she lay, and softly sighed,

I felt a strange relief, and thanked

The Lord, I thought she’d died.

But her eyelids gave a flutter then

And she looked at me apace,

‘Would you be one of the Abbot’s men?

There’s no mark upon your face.’

 

‘I only came to fish,’ I said,

‘And I like what I have caught.’

The look she gave me made me blush

For it set my jest at naught.

‘The Abbot Gilbert lies within

By his candle, book and prayer,

The pestilence has found his sin

For he knows, he’s dying there.’

 

I thought her speech was quaint and old

Like an echo, lost in time,

I thought, ‘I’ve never seen one so fair,

If only she was mine!’

But she sat, and moved away from me

And she said, ‘You mustn’t touch,

For death has stained this fine country,

It may have you in its clutch.’

 

‘But I only came to fish,’ I said,

And, ‘there’s nothing wrong with me;

Yet you float down the River Wye

And will end up in the sea.’

‘I chose the cleansing waters so

To avoid the pestilence,

The dead lie in the fields about

And it spares no eminence.’

 

‘My husband, Guy Fitzherbert bleeds

In the Abbey’s ante-room,

His pilgrimage denied his needs

And the Lord will take him soon.’

I stared at Tintern Abbey’s shell

Standing gaunt against the sky,

‘You must be catching a fever,

We must go and get you dry.’

 

‘I needs must be on my way again,

Good sir, I wish you well,

But leave this place if you’d rather live

Than enter the gates of Hell.’

My mind caught at some thing she said

And a thought, then so sublime,

I asked the girl, ‘What year is this…?’

‘Thirteen forty-nine!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Marie]

That last actually gave me chills. I knew the girl wasn't of this world or time, yet her reply to the question stunned me.

[Woody]

ooooo what a smashing ending! I won't even comment on the rest of the poem. I'd be repeating myself.

[Ellen Hammond]

Intriguing as all your poems are! Love the rhyme and the way the story flows like the river itself. You have a way of keeping us guessing right to the last line. love it!!!

[MomzillaNC]

You tell weave such wonderful tales. I'm always amazed by your story-telling prowess.