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

Robert Seymour Bridges 1844–1930

Elegy

BridgesR

I HAVE lov’d flowers that fade,

Within whose magic tents

Rich hues have marriage made

With sweet unmemoried scents:

A honeymoon delight,—

A joy of love at sight,

That ages in an hour:—

My song be like a flower!

I have lov’d airs that die

Before their charm is writ

Along a liquid sky

Trembling to welcome it.

Notes, that with pulse of fire

Proclaim the spirit ’s desire,

Then die, and are nowhere:—

My song be like an air!

Die, song, die like a breath,

And wither as a bloom:

Fear not a flowery death,

Dread not an airy tomb!

Fly with delight, fly hence!

’T was thine love’s tender sense

To feast; now on thy bier

Beauty shall shed a tear.