| James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902. | | | | December 14 | | To the Princess Alice | | By Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) |
| | | | Second daughter of Queen Victoria. She died on Dec. 14, 1878, exactly seventeen years after her father, Prince Albert. |
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DEAD Princess, living Power, if that, which lived | |
| True life, live on—and if the fatal kiss, | |
| Born of true life and love—divorce thee not | |
| From earthly love and life—if what we call | |
| The spirit flash not all at once from out | 5 |
| This shadow into Substance—then perhaps | |
| The mellowed murmur of the people’s praise | |
| From thine own State, and all our breadth of realm, | |
| Where Love and Longing dress thy deeds in light, | |
| Ascends to thee; and this March morn that sees | 10 |
| Thy Soldier-brother’s bridal orange-bloom | |
| Break through the yews and cypress of thy grave, | |
| And thine Imperial mother smile again, | |
| May send one ray to thee! and who can tell— | |
| Thou—England’s England-loving daughter—thou | 15 |
| Dying so English thou wouldst have her flag | |
| Borne on thy coffin—where is he can swear | |
| But that some broken gleam from our poor earth | |
| May touch thee, while remembering thee, I lay | |
| At thy pale feet this ballad of the deeds | 20 |
| Of England, and her banner in the East? | | | |
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