ADDITIONAL POEMS 289 I strove with none, for none was worth my strife; W. S. LANDOR. 290 ROSE AYLMER Ah what avails the sceptred race! Rose Aylmer, whom these wakeful eyes 5 A night of memories and of sighs I consecrate to thee. W. S. LANDOR. 291 THE MAID'S LAMENT I loved him not; and yet now he is gone I feel I am alone. I checked him while he spoke; yet could he speak, Alas! I would not check. For reasons not to love him once I sought, And wearied all my thought 5 To vex myself and him : I now would give Who lately lived for me, and, when he found He hid his face amid the shades of death. Who wasted his for me: but mine returns, With stifling heat, heaving it up in sleep, Tears that had melted his soft heart: for years Merciful God! such was his latest prayer, Quieter is his breath, his breast more cold, 10 15 20 Where children spell, athwart the churchyard gate, His name and life's brief date. Pray for him, gentle souls, whoe'er you be, 25 And, O, pray too for me! W. S. LANDOR. 292 TO ROBERT BROWNING There is delight in singing, tho' none hear The Siren waits thee, singing song for song. 10 293 Proud word you never spoke, but you will speak Four not exempt from pride some future day. Resting on one white hand a warm wet cheek Over my open volume you will say, This man loved me!' then rise and trip away. 294 W. S. LANDOR. Well I remember how you smiled I have since written what no tide Shall ever wash away, what men Unborn shall read o'er ocean wide 295 W. S. LANDOR. TO A WATERFOWL Whither, midst falling dew, 5 While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue Thy solitary way? Vainly the fowler's eye Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong, Seek'st thou the plashy brink Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide, There is a Power whose care Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,— The desert and illimitable air, Lone wandering, but not lost. 10 15 All day thy wings have fanned, At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere ; And soon that toil shall end; 20 Soon shalt thou find a summer home and rest, And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend, Soon, o'er thy sheltered nest. Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on my heart Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, And shall not soon depart. He who, from zone to zone, 25 Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread alone, Will lead my steps aright. 296 RONDEAU 31 W. C. BRYANT. Jenny kissed me when we met, Say I'm weary, say I'm sad, Say that health and wealth have missed me, Say I'm growing old, but add, Jenny kiss'd me 297 J. H. LEIGH HUNT, THE WAR SONG OF DINAS VAWR The mountain sheep are sweeter, We made an expedition ; We met a host, and quelled it; We forced a strong position, And killed the men who held it. 5 5 On Dyfed's richest valley, Where herds of kine were browsing, We made a mighty sally To furnish our carousing. Fierce warriors rushed to meet us; We met them, and o'erthrew them : They struggled hard to beat us ; But we conquered them, and slew them. As we drove our prize at leisure, The king marched forth to catch us : His rage surpassed all measure, But his people could not match us. He fled to his hall-pillars; And, ere our force we led off, Some sacked his house and cellars, While others cut his head off. We there, in strife bewildering, And widowed many women. 10 15 20 25 We glutted with our foemen ; 30 The heroes and the cravens, The spearmen and the bowmen. We brought away from battle, And much their land bemoaned them, Two thousand head of cattle, 35 And the head of him who owned them : Ednyfed, King of Dyfed, His head was borne before us; His wine and beasts supplied our feasts, T. L. PEACOCK. 40 |