| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | Dewdrop, Wind and Sun | | By Joseph Skipsey (1832–1903) |
| | I AH, be not vain! In yon flower-bell | |
| As rare a pearl did I appear, | |
| As ever grew in ocean shell, | |
| To dangle at a Helen’s ear. | |
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| So was I till a cruel blast | 5 |
| Arose and swept me to the ground, | |
| When, in a jewel of the past, | |
| Earth but a drop of water found. | |
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II ‘Queen Pearl ’s our equal—nay, | |
| A fairer far am I,’ May Dewdrop said, | 10 |
| As Sol at break of day | |
| Did kiss the sparkler on her grass-blade bed. | |
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| ‘None may my charms resist!’ | |
| ‘None,’ Sol still kissing answer’d, when alas! | |
| The proud one turn’d to mist, | 15 |
| And with her pride did into Lethe pass. | | | | |
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