Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Hughley Steeple

Alfred Edward Housman

“Hughley Steeple” as printed in A Shropshire Lad (1896).

Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics Text 11 1896 · historical text
Public domainSong lyricsVictorian song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from A Shropshire Lad, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

The vane on Hughley steeple

Veers bright, a far-known sign,

And there lie Hughley people,

And there lie friends of mine.

Tall in their midst the tower

Divides the shade and sun,

And the clock strikes the hour

And tells the time to none.

Verse 2

To south the headstones cluster,

The sunny mounds lie thick;

The dead are more in muster

At Hughley than the quick.

North, for a soon-told number,

Chill graves the sexton delves,

And steeple-shadowed slumber

The slayers of themselves.

Verse 3

To north, to south, lie parted,

With Hughley tower above,

The kind, the single-hearted,

The lads I used to love.

And, south or north, 't is only

A choice of friends one knows,

And I shall ne'er be lonely

Asleep with these or those.

Credits

Written by Alfred Edward Housman

Words by Alfred Edward Housman. Historical text published in A Shropshire Lad (1896); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

A Shropshire Lad (1896), “Hughley Steeple”

A. E. Housman (1859-1936) died more than 89 years ago; his works entered the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions in 2007, and the 1896 first edition is in the public domain in the United States. Entries credited to other hands are held unless their author died more than 70 years ago.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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