| The Collected Works of William Morris With Introductions by his Daughter May Morris | 
|  | I. | 
|  | II. | 
|  | III, IV, V, VI. | 
|  | 
|  | 
|  | 
|  | 
|  | VII. | 
|  | IX. | 
|  | X. | 
|  | XII. | 
|  | XIV. | 
|  | XV. | 
|  | XVI. | 
|  | XVII. | 
|  | XXI. | 
|  | XXIV. | 
|  | The Collected Works of William Morris |  | 
“How many an hour might I have been
Right merry in the gardens green;
How many a glorious day had I
Made happy with some victory;
What noble deeds I might have done,
What bright renown my deeds have won;
What blessings would have made me glad;
What little burdens had I had,
What calmness in the hope of praise,
What joy of well-accomplished days,
If I had let these things alone;
Nor sought to sit upon my throne
Like God between the cherubim.
But now—but now, my days wax dim,
And all this fairness have I tost
Unto the winds, and all have lost
For nought, for nought! yet will I strive
My little end of life to live;
Nor will I look behind me more,
Nor forward to the doubtful shore.”
Right merry in the gardens green;
How many a glorious day had I
Made happy with some victory;
What noble deeds I might have done,
167
What blessings would have made me glad;
What little burdens had I had,
What calmness in the hope of praise,
What joy of well-accomplished days,
If I had let these things alone;
Nor sought to sit upon my throne
Like God between the cherubim.
But now—but now, my days wax dim,
And all this fairness have I tost
Unto the winds, and all have lost
For nought, for nought! yet will I strive
My little end of life to live;
Nor will I look behind me more,
Nor forward to the doubtful shore.”
|  | The Collected Works of William Morris |  |