The Haystack in the Floods

"The Haystack in the Floods" is a narrative poem of 160 lines by William Morris, the Victorian writer and designer. First published in The Defence of Guenevere, and Other Poems in 1858, it is one of his best-known poems. Plot The poem is a grimly realistic piece set in France during the Hundred Years' War. The doomed lovers Jehane and Robert de Marny flee with a small escort through a convincingly portrayed rain-swept countryside, to reach the safety of English-held Gascony. They are however intercepted by the treacherous Godmar and have a last despairing parting besides the "old soaked hay" of the title. The encounter takes place shortly after the Battle of Poitiers but the characters Godmar and Jehane are entirely fictional. Morris used the name of an English knight Sir Robert de Marny, who was born in Essex and fought at Poitiers but who did not die in the manner recited. Text Three passages from the poem are most often quoted: The in medias res opening: