Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
Dollie Radford b. 1858A Model
Y
The boys and girls who come and go,
Although my beauty’s diadem
Has lain for many seasons low.
How hard, they said, to paint its gold,
How difficult to catch the light
Which fell upon it, fold on fold,—
In all its pride of white and red;
None would believe, in very truth,
A maiden was so fair, they said.
The daily hope which made me fair,
Sweet promises of things to be,
The happy things I was to share.
The magic seas and skies above,
And many a fair enchanted place
Full of the summer time and love.
So much more real than they knew,
And I was slow to understand
The pictures could not all come true.
The waking dreams which kept me glad,
And as I sat, they told me now,
None would believe a maid so sad.
Just for my neck and shoulder lines,
And for the little lingering bit
Of color in my hair that shines.
Into their groups I sometimes stray,
To break the light, to mark their range
Of sun and shade, of grave and gay.
With life and hope so sweet and high,—
In all the world how should they know
There is no one so tired as I.