Eight O’clock

by A. E. Housman

    He stood, and heard the steeple
    Sprinkle the quarters on the morning town.
    One, two, three, four, to market-place and people
    It tossed them down.

    Strapped, noosed, nighing his hour,
    He stood and counted them and cursed his luck;
    And then the clock collected in the tower
    Its strength, and struck.