William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.
To YouthWalter Savage Landor (17751864)
W
With wing at either shoulder,
And smile that never left thy mouth
Until the hours grew colder:
That thou and I must part;
I doubted it: I felt no fear,
No weight upon the heart:
And roll’d it off again;
So, if there ever was a sigh,
’Twas not a sigh of pain.
Returnest when the hand
Of gentle Sleep waves o’er my brow
His poppy-crested wand;
Then lips once pressed invite;
But sleep hath given a silent sign,
And both, alas! take flight.