FOR THEE
If there be a turf sweet wet
With dew and shower;
Season by season bright for some
Unfolded flower;
Where lilies in all abundance blow,
With honeysuckle and jasmine there;
I am fain to make it the pathway where
Thy foot shall go.
If there be a breast of love
Where honour sways;
Where deep devotion knoweth not
Sour thoughts, hard ways;
If evermore this loyal breast
For some great cause beat strong and fair,
I am fain to make it the pillow where
Thy head shall rest.
If there be a love-dream quick
Wi' the rose's breath,
A dream where the heart for every day
Sweet things findeth;
A dream God blesseth verily;
Where soul with soul doth union win;
I am fain to make it the nest wherein
Thy heart shall lie.
From the French of Victor Hugo.
[_]
Nearly all the shorter poems in this volume have appeared in
various magazines, within the last two years. In the case of such of
them as I had not a pre-arranged right to reprint, I owne the privilege
of doing so to the courtesy of the publishers. I acknowledge with
thanks the permission of Messrs. Longman to republish A Lay of
London Town, and Polly, a Governess, which appeared in Longman's
Magazine; that of Messrs. Smith, Elder, & Co. to republish Her
Dream from the Cornhill Magazine; and a similar courtesy on the
part of the proprietors of Good Words, in which Utopia and Comrades
have been published.
E.H.H.
