| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
| |
| When Stars Are in the Quiet Skies |
| | | Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) |
| |
| |
| WHEN stars are in the quiet skies, | |
| Then most I pine for thee; | |
| Bend on me then thy tender eyes, | |
| As stars look on the sea! | |
| For thoughts, like waves that glide by night, | 5 |
| Are stillest when they shine; | |
| Mine earthly love lies hush’d in light | |
| Beneath the heaven of thine. | |
| |
| There is an hour when angels keep | |
| Familiar watch o’er men, | 10 |
| When coarser souls are wrapp’d in sleep— | |
| Sweet spirit, meet me then! | |
| There is an hour when holy dreams | |
| Through slumber fairest glide; | |
| And in that mystic hour it seems | 15 |
| Thou shouldst be by my side. | |
| |
| My thoughts of thee too sacred are | |
| For daylight’s common beam: | |
| I can but know thee as my star, | |
| My angel and my dream; | 20 |
| When stars are in the quiet skies, | |
| Then most I pine for thee; | |
| Bend on me then thy tender eyes, | |
| As stars look on the sea! | |
| |
|
|
|
