John Payne (b. 1841). Rococo. Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. 1922. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse

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

Rococo

By John Payne (b. 1841)


STRAIGHT and swift the swallows fly
To the sojourn of the sun;
All the golden year is done,
All the flower-time flitted by;
Thro’ the boughs the witch-winds sigh;	5
But heart’s summer is begun;
Life and love at last are one;
Love-lights glitter in the sky.
Summer days were soon outrun
With the setting of the sun;	10
Love’s delight is never done.
Let the turn-coat roses die;
We are lovers, Love and I;
In Love’s lips my roses lie.