| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Elegy |
| | | Robert Seymour Bridges (1844–1930) |
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| I HAVE lov’d flowers that fade, | |
| Within whose magic tents | |
| Rich hues have marriage made | |
| With sweet unmemoried scents: | |
| A honeymoon delight,— | 5 |
| A joy of love at sight, | |
| That ages in an hour:— | |
| My song be like a flower! | |
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| I have lov’d airs that die | |
| Before their charm is writ | 10 |
| Along a liquid sky | |
| Trembling to welcome it. | |
| Notes, that with pulse of fire | |
| Proclaim the spirit ’s desire, | |
| Then die, and are nowhere:— | 15 |
| My song be like an air! | |
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| Die, song, die like a breath, | |
| And wither as a bloom: | |
| Fear not a flowery death, | |
| Dread not an airy tomb! | 20 |
| Fly with delight, fly hence! | |
| ’T was thine love’s tender sense | |
| To feast; now on thy bier | |
| Beauty shall shed a tear. | |
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