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Collected poems

By Austin Dobson: Ninth edition
Dobson, Austin (1840-1921)
  
[epigraph]

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[section]
  
[To you I sing, whom towns immure]
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OLD-WORLD IDYLLS
  
A DEAD LETTER
  
A GENTLEMAN OF THE OLD SCHOOL
  
A GENTLEWOMAN OF THE OLD SCHOOL
  
THE BALLAD OF “BEAU BROCADE”
  
UNE MARQUISE
  
THE STORY OF ROSINA
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PROVERBS IN PORCELAIN
  
PROLOGUE
  
THE BALLAD À-LA-MODE
  
THE METAMORPHOSIS
  
THE SONG OUT OF SEASON
  
THE CAP THAT FITS
  
THE SECRETS OF THE HEART
  
“GOOD-NIGHT, BABETTE!”
  
EPILOGUE
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VIGNETTES IN RHYME
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THE DRAMA OF THE DOCTOR'S WINDOW
  
Prologue
 1. 
Act the First.
 2. 
Act the Second.
  
Act the Third.
  
AN AUTUMN IDYLL
  
A GARDEN IDYLL
  
TU QUOQUE
  
A DIALOGUE FROM PLATO
  
THE ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE
  
LOVE IN WINTER
  
POT-POURRI
  
DOROTHY
  
AVICE
  
THE LOVE-LETTER
  
THE MISOGYNIST
  
A VIRTUOSO
  
LAISSEZ FAIRE
  
TO Q. H. F.
  
TO “LYDIA LANGUISH”
  
A GAGE D'AMOUR
  
CUPID'S ALLEY
  
THE IDYLL OF THE CARP
  
THE SUNDIAL
  
AN UNFINISHED SONG
  
THE CHILD-MUSICIAN
  
THE CRADLE
  
BEFORE SEDAN
  
THE FORGOTTEN GRAVE
  
MY LANDLADY
  
BEFORE THE CURTAIN
  
A NIGHTINGALE IN KENSINGTON GARDENS
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MISCELLANEOUS PIECES
  
A SONG OF THE FOUR SEASONS
  
THE PARADOX OF TIME
  
TO A GREEK GIRL
  
THE DEATH OF PROCRIS
  
THE PRAYER OF THE SWINE TO CIRCE
  
A CASE OF CAMEOS
  
LOVE'S QUEST
  
THE SICK MAN AND THE BIRDS
  
A FLOWER SONG OF ANGIOLA
  
A SONG OF ANGIOLA IN HEAVEN
  
ANDRÉ LE CHAPELAIN
  
THE DYING OF TANNEGUY DU BOIS
  
PALOMYDES
  
THE MOSQUE OF THE CALIPH
  
IN THE BELFRY
  
ARS VICTRIX
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AT THE SIGN OF THE LYRE
  
[“At the Sign of the Lyre,”]
  
THE LADIES OF ST. JAMES'S
  
THE OLD SEDAN CHAIR
  
TO AN INTRUSIVE BUTTERFLY
  
THE CURÉ'S PROGRESS
  
THE MASQUE OF THE MONTHS
  
TWO SERMONS
  
“AU REVOIR”
  
THE CARVER AND THE CALIPH
  
TO AN UNKNOWN BUST IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM
  
MOLLY TREFUSIS
  
AT THE CONVENT GATE
  
THE MILKMAID
  
AN OLD FISH POND
  
AN EASTERN APOLOGUE
  
TO A MISSAL OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY
  
A REVOLUTIONARY RELIC
  
A MADRIGAL
  
A SONG TO THE LUTE
  
A GARDEN SONG
  
A CHAPTER OF FROISSART
  
TO THE MAMMOTH-TORTOISE
  
A ROMAN ROUND-ROBIN
  
VERSES TO ORDER
  
A LEGACY
  
“LITTLE BLUE-RIBBONS”
  
LINES TO A STUPID PICTURE
  
A FAIRY TALE
  
TO A CHILD
  
HOUSEHOLD ART
  
THE DISTRESSED POET
  
JOCOSA LYRA
  
MY BOOKS
  
THE COLLECTOR TO HIS LIBRARY
  
THE BOOK-PLATE'S PETITION
  
THE WATER OF GOLD
  
A FANCY FROM FONTENELLE
  
DON QUIXOTE
  
A BROKEN SWORD
  
THE POET'S SEAT
  
THE LOST ELIXIR
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MEMORIAL VERSES
  
A DIALOGUE
  
A FAMILIAR EPISTLE
  
HENRY FIELDING
  
A POSTSCRIPT TO “RETALIATION”
  
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
  
CHARLES GEORGE GORDON
  
VICTOR HUGO
  
ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
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FABLES OF LITERATURE AND ART
  
THE POET AND THE CRITICS
  
THE TOYMAN
  
THE SUCCESSFUL AUTHOR
  
THE DILETTANT
  
THE TWO PAINTERS
  
THE CLAIMS OF THE MUSE
  
THE 'SQUIRE AT VAUXHALL
  
THE CLIMACTERIC
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TALES IN RHYME
  
THE VIRGIN WITH THE BELLS
  
A TALE OF POLYPHEME
  
A STORY FROM A DICTIONARY
  
THE WATER-CURE
  
THE NOBLE PATRON
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VERS DE SOCIÉTÉ
  
A CITY FLOWER
  
INCOGNITA
  
DORA VERSUS ROSE
  
AD ROSAM
  
OUTWARD BOUND
  
IN THE ROYAL ACADEMY
  
THE LAST DESPATCH
  
“PREMIERS AMOURS”
  
THE SCREEN IN THE LUMBER ROOM
  
DAISY'S VALENTINES
  
IN TOWN
  
A SONNET IN DIALOGUE
  
GROWING GRAY
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VARIA
  
THE MALTWORM'S MADRIGAL
  
AN APRIL PASTORAL
  
A NEW SONG OF THE SPRING GARDENS
  
A LOVE-SONG
  
OF HIS MISTRESS
  
THE NAMELESS CHARM
  
TO PHIDYLE
  
TO HIS BOOK
  
FOR A COPY OF HERRICK
  
WITH A VOLUME OF VERSE
  
FOR THE AVERY “KNICKER-BOCKER”
  
TO A PASTORAL POET
  
TO ONE WHO BIDS ME SING
  
“SAT EST SCRIPSISSE”
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PROLOGUES AND EPILOGUES
  
PROLOGUE TO ABBEY'S EDITION OF “SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER”
  
L'ENVOI
  
PROLOGUE TO ABBEY'S “QUIET LIFE”
  
DEDICATION OF “THE STORY OF ROSINA”
  
PROLOGUE TO “EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY VIGNETTES”
  
EPILOGUE TO “EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY VIGNETTES
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ESSAYS IN OLD FRENCH FORMS
  
[As, to the pipe, with rhythmic feet]
  
ROSE-LEAVES
  
“PERSICOS ODI”
  
THE WANDERER
  
“VITAS HINNULEO”
  
“ON LONDON STONES”
  
“FAREWELL, RENOWN!”
  
“MORE POETS YET!”
  
“WITH PIPE AND FLUTE”
  
TO A JUNE ROSE
  
TO DAFFODILS
  
ON THE HURRY OF THIS TIME
  
“WHEN BURBADGE PLAYED”
  
A GREETING
  
LÉAL SOUVENIR
  
AFTER WATTEAU
  
TO ETHEL
  
“WHEN FINIS COMES”
  
“O FONS BANDUSIÆ”
  
“EXTREMUM TANAIN”
  
“VIXI PUELLIS”
  
“WHEN I SAW YOU LAST, ROSE”
  
ON A NANKIN PLATE
  
FOR A COPY OF THEOCRITUS
  
“TU NE QUAESIERIS”
  
THE PRODIGALS
  
ON A FAN THAT BELONGED TO THE MARQUISE DE POMPADOUR
  
A BALLAD TO QUEEN ELIZABETH of the Spanish Armada
  
A BALLAD OF HEROES
  
THE BALLAD OF THE THRUSH
  
THE BALLAD OF THE BARMECIDE
  
THE BALLAD OF IMITATION
  
THE BALLAD OF PROSE AND RHYME
  
“O NAVIS”
  
THE DANCE OF DEATH
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CARMINA VOTIVA
  
A MADRIGAL
  
RANK AND FILE
  
FOR A COPY OF “THE COMPLEAT ANGLER”
  
VERSES READ AT THE DINNER OF THE OMAR KHAYYÁM CLUB
  
VERSES WRITTEN FOR THE MENU OF THE OMAR KHAYYÁM CLUB
  
FOR “AN APPENDIX TO THE ROWFANT LIBRARY”
  
FOR A CHARITY ANNUAL
  
FOR A COPY OF “THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD”
  
AFTER A HOLIDAY
  
THE BALLAD OF THE BORE
  
TO THE LADY DOROTHY NEVILL
  
TO EDMUND GOSSE
  
TO THE SAME
  
TO THE SAME
  
TO THE SAME
  
TO THE SAME
  
TO THE SAME
  
TO THE SAME
  
FOR LOCKER'S “LONDON LYRICS”
  
TO BRANDER MATTHEWS
  
TO THE LATE H. C. BUNNER
  
TO RICHARD WATSON GILDER
  
“GOOD LUCK TO YOUR FISHING!”
 1. 
A BALLAD OF ANTIQUARIES
 2. 
A SECOND BALLAD OF ANTIQUARIES
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LUDIBRIA VENTIS
  
R. L. S.
  
A BALLAD OF INCAPACITY
  
“A VOICE IN THE SCENTED NIGHT”
  
A WELCOME FROM THE JOHNSON CLUB
  
SURGE ET AMBULA
  
SNAP-SHOT
  
HORATIAN ODE ON THE TERCENTENARY OF “DON QUIXOTE”
  
PEPYS' DIARY
  
THE SIMPLE LIFE
  
A NEW YEAR'S THOUGHT
  
RICHARD GARNETT
  
THE PASSIONATE PRINTER TO HIS LOVE
  
AN EPISTLE TO AN EDITOR
  
TO THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
  
TO MYRTALÉ
  
“FAME IS A FOOD THAT DEAD MEN EAT”
  
A WAIF
  
LONGFELLOW
  
A PLEASANT INVECTIVE AGAINST PRINTING
  
THE FRIEND OF HUMANITY AND THE RHYMER
  
TO A FRIEND WHO DEPLORED THE BRIEF LIFE OF LITERARY PERSONALITY
  
A PROEM
  
THE LAST PROOF
  
AN EPITAPH (FOR A PARISH MAGAZINE)
  
THE HAPPY PRINTER
  
A MILTONIC EXERCISE
  
PROLOGUE TO “DE LIBRIS”
  
A SONG OF THE GREENAWAY CHILD
  
FOR A VISITORS' BOOK
  
“TWO MAIDS UPROSE IN THE SHIMMERING LIGHT”
  
ELIM
  
COLLABORATION:
  
ENTENTE CORDIALE
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LATER POEMS
  
VERSES WRITTEN FOR THE MENU OF THE OMAR KHAYYÁM CLUB
  
LA BONNE COMÉDIE
  
IN MEMORIAM
  
THREESCORE AND TEN
  
AN HORATIAN ODE TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY
  
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY
  
TO HUGH THOMSON
  
TO TIME, THE TYRANT
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ADDITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS
  
[(Too hard it is to sing]
  
ROSE, IN THE HEDGEROW GROWN
  
JULY
  
A FABLE (IN THE MANNER OF MR. JOHN GAY)
  
ON A PICTURE BY HOPPNER
  
ON THE BELFRY TOWER
  
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE PORCH
  
THE HOLOCAUST
  
THE SONG OF THE SEA WIND
  
HILL AND VALLEY
  
A BALLAD OF THE QUEEN'S MAJESTY
  
TO A FRIEND (ON RECEIVING HIS “COMPLETE POEMS”)
  
THE SONNET OF THE MOUNTAIN
  
REGRETS
  
REGRETS
  
TO MONSIEUR DE LA MOTHE LE VAYER, UPON THE DEATH OF HIS SON
  
“ALBI, NE DOLEAS”
  
AD LYRAM
  
THE BALLAD OF BITTER FRUIT
  
TO MAECENAS
  
[In after days when grasses high]

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570

A WAIF

Written for Tales for the Homes, a volume published in 1907 on behalf of the National Barnardo Memorial Fund.

Ragged and starved, with shifting look, and eyes
Too old for childhood, and too dull for joy,
How shall you guess, thro' this forlorn disguise,
The Man you hope for, in this hopeless Boy?
There is no heart so cold but may be warmed;
And—by the grace of God—can be transformed.
1907.
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