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Home  »  The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse  »  Thomas Edward Brown (1830–1897)

Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922.

Salve!

Thomas Edward Brown (1830–1897)

TO live within a cave—it is most good;

But, if God make a day,

And some one come, and say,

‘Lo! I have gather’d faggots in the wood!’

E’en let him stay,

And light a fire, and fan a temporal mood!

So sit till morning! when the light is grown

That he the path can read,

Then bid the man God-speed!

His morning is not thine: yet must thou own

They have a cheerful warmth—those ashes on the stone.