Poem of the week: Leaves by Frederic Manning
A landscape of illusory peace is depicted just before the guns of battle reach it in the first world war
Leaves
A frail and tenuous mist on baffled and intricate branches;
Little gilt leaves are still, for quietness holds every bough;
Pools in the muddy road slumber, reflecting indifferent stars;
Steeped in the loveliness of moonlight is earth, and the valleys,
Brimmed up with quiet shadow, with a mist of sleep.