Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Walter Savage Landor 1775–1864

To Youth

Landor-W

WHERE art thou gone, light-ankled Youth?

With wing at either shoulder,

And smile that never left thy mouth

Until the Hours grew colder:

Then somewhat seem’d to whisper near

That thou and I must part;

I doubted it; I felt no fear,

No weight upon the heart.

If aught befell it, Love was by

And roll’d it off again;

So, if there ever was a sigh,

’T was not a sigh of pain.

I may not call thee back; but thou

Returnest when the hand

Of gentle Sleep waves o’er my brow

His poppy-crested wand;

Then smiling eyes bend over mine,

Then lips once press’d invite;

But sleep hath given a silent sign,

And both, alas! take flight.