Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Edward Cracroft Lefroy b. 1855

A Sicilian Night

COME, stand we here within this cactus-brake,

And let the leafy tangle cloak us round:

It is the spot whereof the Seer spake—

To nymph and faun a nightly trysting-ground.

How still the scene! No zephyr stirs to shake

The listening air. The trees are slumberbound

In soft repose. There ’s not a bird awake

To witch the silence with a silver sound.

Now haply shall the vision trance our eyes,

By heedless mortals all too rarely scanned,

Of mystic maidens in immortal guise,

Who mingle shadowy hand with shadowy hand,

And, moving o’er the lilies circle-wise,

Beat out with naked feet a saraband.