The announcement at Oxford: 'Cathedrals Express, calling at
Kingham, Moreton-in-Marsh, Eve-sham, Worcester Shrub Hill,
Worcester Foregate Street, Malvern Link, Great Malvern, Malvern
     Wells,
Colwall, Ledbury and Hereford.' With every name
The sirens of the Metropolis became less real.

At last, there are the hills, as one had left them, dependable,
And Malvern, still holding its precarious position
Above the Worcestershire saucer.
                           From Bellevue Terrace down
Past the residences of veterinary surgeons and physicians
To the orchards, now unfortunately sold to the Council,
There is an appreciable descent. The monkey-puzzle of Empire
Degenerates into the flowering cherry and vulgar almond
Of the housing estates.

Conversely, if one should be proceeding in the opposite direction
...