Lord de Tabley (John Byrne Leicester Warren) (1835–1895)

IN ruling well what guerdon? Life runs low,

As yonder lamp upon the hour-glass lies,

Waning and wasted. We are great and wise,

But Love is gone; and Silence seems to grow

Along the misty road where we must go.

From summits near the morning star’s uprise

Death comes, a shadow from the northern skies,

As, when all leaves are down, there comes the snow.

Brother and King, we hold our last carouse.

One loving-cup we drain and then farewell.

The night is spent: the crystal morning ray

Calls us, as soldiers laurell’d on our brows,

To march undaunted while the clarions swell—

Heroic hearts, upon our lonely way.