| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | Unwelcome | | By Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907) |
| | | WE were young, we were merry, we were very very wise, | |
| And the door stood open at our feast, | |
| When there pass’d us a woman with the West in her eyes, | |
| And a man with his back to the East. | |
| |
| O, still grew the hearts that were beating so fast, | 5 |
| The loudest voice was still. | |
| The jest died away on our lips as they pass’d, | |
| And the rays of July struck chill. | |
| |
| The cups of red wine turn’d pale on the board, | |
| The white bread black as soot. | 10 |
| The hound forgot the hand of her lord, | |
| She fell down at his foot. | |
| |
| Low let me lie, where the dead dog lies, | |
| Ere I sit me down again at a feast, | |
| When there passes a woman with the West in her eyes, | 15 |
| And a man with his back to the East. | | | | |
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