'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...PICTURES OF MEMORY by ALICE CARY THE NIGHT MAIL NORTH (EUSTON SQUARE, 1840) by HENRY CHOLMONDELEY-PENNELL ENGLAND'S DEAD by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS DIVINATION BY A DAFFADILL by ROBERT HERRICK AS THE GREEK'S SIGNAL FLAME by WALT WHITMAN THE YOUNG CARPENTER by AL-RUSAFI SOURCE by KENNETH SLADE ALLING THE STEAM-ENGINE: CANTO 9: GREAT WESTERN DAYS by T. BAKER THE BABES IN THE WOOD; OR, THE NORFOLK TRAGEDY by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM |