 | Collected poems |  |
618
ON A PICTURE BY HOPPNER
(MRS. GWYN—GOLDSMITH'S “JESSAMY BRIDE”)
“And you went once with myrtle crowned!”
You once were she, for whom
Poor Goldsmith's gentle genius found
That name of jasmine-bloom!
You once were she, for whom
Poor Goldsmith's gentle genius found
That name of jasmine-bloom!
How strange it seems! You whom he loved,
You who were breathing, vital,
Not feigned in books, for us have proved
Scarce but a fragrant title;
You who were breathing, vital,
Not feigned in books, for us have proved
Scarce but a fragrant title;
A shade too shadowy far to stand
Beside the girl Primroses—
Beside the dear old Vicar, and
Our more-than-brother, Moses!
Beside the girl Primroses—
Beside the dear old Vicar, and
Our more-than-brother, Moses!
We cannot guess your voice, who know
Scamp Tony's view-halloo;
For us e'en thin Beau Tibbs must show
More palpable than you!
Scamp Tony's view-halloo;
For us e'en thin Beau Tibbs must show
More palpable than you!
Yet some scant news we have. You came,
When that kind soul had fled;
You begged his hair; you kept his name
Long on your lips, 'tis said;
When that kind soul had fled;
You begged his hair; you kept his name
Long on your lips, 'tis said;
619
You lived—and died. Or when, or how,
Who asks! This age of ours
But marks your grass-grown headstone now
By Goldsmith's jasmine flowers!
Who asks! This age of ours
But marks your grass-grown headstone now
This is a poetical license, for there is a “quite typical tablet” to the “Jessamy Bride” in Weybridge Parish Church, where she lies with her mother and sister, “Little Comedy.” I take this information from a very interesting paper on “The Hornecks,” by H. P. K. Skipton, in the Connoisseur for September, 1910.
By Goldsmith's jasmine flowers!
1883.
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