A Night With a Wolf - illustration by Rosie, Poem © Bayard Taylor



      High up on the lonely mountains,
      Where the wild men watched and waited;
      Wolves in the forest and bears in the bush,
      And I on my path belated.

      The rain and the night together
      Came down, and the wind came after,
      Bending the props of the pine tree roof,
      And snapping many a rafter.

      I crept along in the darkness,
      Stunned, and bruised, and blinded;
      Crept to a fir with thick set boughs
      And a sheltering rock behind it.

      There, from the blowing and raining,
      Crouching, I sought to hide me.
      Something rustled; two green eyes shone;
      And a wolf lay down beside me!

      His wet fur pressed against me;
      Each of us warmed the other;
      Each of us felt, in the stormy dark,
      That beast and man were brother.

      And when the falling forest
      No longer crashed in warning,
      Each of us went from our hiding place
      Forth in the wild, wet morning.


This has been one of my favourite poems for years and given a picture of a wolf as a photo-editing challenge it was an irresistible choice.

Each of went from our hiding place, forth in the wild, wet morning....

Illustrations by Rosie
Words ©: Bayard Taylor


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