Anne Evans: Poems and Music :: :: University of Virginia Library

I looked upon two corpses in one day,
Two noble corpses, lying by the shore:
First, one who on his large proportions bore
The stamp of heathen warrior; where he lay,
Harmless and helpless in his disarray,
The mild autumnal cheer was clouded o'er
By uncouth shades which haunt him evermore,
Dark horrors of his harsh rule past away.
Then a fair lady, barbarously slain:
O stately pleasantness, untimely cold!
There might one grieve till sad night should enfold
The appealing form; and gaze, and gaze again,
As though through longing one might yet behold
The vanished life. Ah, longing all in vain!