Alfred Austin Poems

Now do I know that Love is blind, for I
Can see no beauty on this beauteous earth,
No life, no light, no hopefulness, no mirth,
Pleasure nor purpose, when thou art not nigh.
...

Should fickle hands in far-off days
No longer stroke thy hair,
And lips that once were proud to praise
Forget to call thee fair,
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Let not the roses lie
Too thickly tangled round my tomb,
Lest fleecy clouds that skim the summer sky,
...

There was a snow-white lily
Grew by a cottage door:
Such a white and wonderful lily
Never was seen before.
...

`You ask me why I envy not
The Monarch on his throne.
It is that I myself have got
A Kingdom of my own:
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Where have you been through the long sweet hours
That follow the fragrant feet of June?
By the dells and the dingles gathering flowers,
...

I
Lately, when we wished good-bye
Underneath a gloomy sky,
``Bear,'' you said, ``my love in mind,
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SHE wanders in the April woods,
That glisten with the fallen shower;
She leans her face against the buds,
She stops, she stoops, she plucks a flower.
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Ere that I say farewell to youth, and take
The homely road that leads to life's decline,
Let me be sure again I shall not pine
...

Whither, and whence, and why hast fled?
Thou art dumb, my muse; thou art dumb, thou art dead,
As a waterless stream, as a leafless tree.
...