| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Præterita ex Instantibus |
| | | William Douw Schuyler-Lighthall (b. 1857) |
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| HOW strange it is that, in the after age,— | |
| When Time’s clepsydra will be nearer dry, | |
| That all the accustomed things we now pass by | |
| Unmarked, because familiar, shall engage | |
| The antique reverence of men to be; | 5 |
| And that quaint interest which prompts the sage | |
| The silent fathoms of the past to gauge | |
| Shall keep alive our own past memory, | |
| Making all great of ours, the garb we wear, | |
| Our voiceless cities, reft of roof and spire, | 10 |
| The very skull whence now the eye of fire | |
| Glances bright sign of what the soul can dare. | |
| So shall our annals make an envied lore, | |
| And men will say, “Thus did the men of yore.” | |
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