C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849)
Hesperus Sings
P
Beneath the silent moon he sate,
A-listening to the screech-owl’s cry
And the cold wind’s goblin prate;
Beside him lay his staff of yew
With withered willow twined,
His scant gray hair all wet with dew,
His cheeks with grief ybrined:
And his cry it was ever, Alack!
Alack, and woe is me!
His piteous moaning hears,
And from his bosom steals away
His rosary of tears;
With his plunder fled that urchin elf,
And hid it in your eyes:
Then tell me back the stolen pelf,
Give up the lawless prize;
Or your cry shall be ever, Alack!
Alack, and woe is me!