Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A NICE CORRESPONDENT, by FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A NICE CORRESPONDENT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The glow and the glory are plighted
Last Line: Was written to you.'
Alternate Author Name(s): Locker, Frederick
Subject(s): Browning, Robert (1812-1889); Poetry & Poets


'THE glow and the glory are plighted
To darkness, for evening is come;
The lamp in Glebe Cottage is lighted,
The birds and the sheep-bells are dumb;
I'm alone at my casement, for Pappy
Is summoned to dinner at Kew;
I'm alone, my dear Fred, but I'm happy,--
I'm thinking of you.

'I wish you were here; were I duller
Than dull, you'd be dearer than dear,--
I am dressed in your favourite colour,--
Dear Fred, how I wish you were here!
I am wearing my lazuli necklace,
The necklace you fastened askew!
Was there ever so rude or so reckless
A darling as you?

'I want you to come and pass sentence
On two or three books with a plot:
Of course you know "Janet's Repentance":
I'm reading Sir Waverley Scott,
The story of Edgar and Lucy,--
How thrilling, romantic, and true!
The Master,--his bride was a goosey,--
Reminds me of you.

'To-day, in my ride, I've been crowning
The Beacon whose magic still lures,
For up there you discoursed about Browning,--
That stupid old Browning of yours:
His verve and his vogue are alarming,
I'm anxious to give him his due;
But, Fred, he's not nearly so charming
A poet as you.

'I have heard how you shot at the Beeches,
I saw how you rode Chanticleer,
I have read the reports of your speeches,
And echoed the echoing cheer:
There's a whisper of hearts you are breaking,--
I envy their owners. I do!--
Small marvel that fashion is making
Her idol of you.

'Alas for the world, and its dearly
Bought triumph, and fugitive bliss;
Sometimes I half wish I was merely
A plain or a penniless Miss:
But, perhaps, one is best with a measure
Of pelf; and I'm not sorry, too,
That I'm pretty, because it's a pleasure,
My dearest, to you.

'Your whim is for frolic and fashion,
Your taste is for letters and art;--
This rhyme is the common-place passion
That glows in a fond woman's heart:
Put it by in a dainty deposit
For relics,--we all have a few!
Some day, love, they'll print it, because it
Was written to you.'





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net