| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| A Dead Friend |
| | | Norman Gale (b. 1862) |
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| IT hardly seems that he is dead, | |
| So strange it is that we are here | |
| Beneath this great blue shell of sky | |
| With apple-bloom and pear: | |
| It scarce seems true that we can note | 5 |
| The bursting rosebud’s edge of flame, | |
| Or watch the blackbird’s swelling throat | |
| While he is but a name. | |
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| No more the chaffinch at his step | |
| Pipes suddenly her shrill surprise, | 10 |
| For in an ecstasy of sleep | |
| Unconsciously he lies, | |
| Not knowing that the sweet brown lark | |
| From off her bosom’s feathery lace | |
| Shakes down the dewdrop in her flight | 15 |
| To fall upon his face. | |
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