Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892). In the Garden at Swainston. Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. 1922. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse

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

In the Garden at Swainston

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)


NIGHTINGALES warbled without,
Within was weeping for thee:
Shadows of three dead men
Walk’d in the walks with me:
Shadows of three dead men, and thou wast one of the three.	5

Nightingales sang in his woods:
The Master was far away:
Nightingales warbled and sang
Of a passion that lasts but a day;
Still in the house in his coffin the Prince of courtesy lay.	10

Two dead men have I known
In courtesy like to thee:
Two dead men have I loved
With a love that ever will be:
Three dead men have I loved, and thou art last of the three.	15