Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
Sir Joseph Noel Paton b. 1821Requiem
W
O’er his breast in silence shed,
Faded lilies o’er his feet,
Waning roses round his head,
Where in dreamless sleep he lies—
Folded palms and sealed eyes—
Young Love, within my bosom—dead.
With his mouth of rosy red,
Argent wing and golden hair,
And those blue eyen, glory-fed
From some fount of splendor, far
Beyond or moon or sun or star—
And can it be that he is dead?
Pulse and breath forever fled;
If I kiss’d him ever so,
To my kiss he were as lead;
If I clipp’d him as of yore
He would answer me on more
With lip or hand—for he is dead.
Smirch his pure and lonely bed.
Let no foolish cippus rear
Its weight above him. Only spread
Rose, lily, pale forget-me-not,
And pansies round the silent spot
Where in his youth he lieth—dead