Asylum from the city on the hill

       O wert thou in the storm
        How I would shield thee:
       To keep thee dry and warm
        A camp I would build thee.

       Though the clouds pour'd again
        Not a drop should harm thee,
       The music of wind and rain
        Rather should charm thee.

       O wert thou in the storm
        A shed I would build thee;
       To keep thee dry and warm,
        How I would shield thee.

       The rain should not wet thee,
        Nor thunder-clap harm thee.
       By thy side I would sit me,
        To comfort and warm thee.

       ..






















John Clare
Song
  [fragment]
Northampton General
  Lunatic Asylum 
  East Midlands, England
July 25, 1844
Selected Poetry
Geoffrey Summerfield
  editor
Penguin, 1990©

George Orwell
Politics and the
  English Language
op. cit.