Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
Théophile Julius Henry Marzials b. 1850A Pastoral
F
Crimson of the quince,
I saw her at the blossom-time,
And loved her ever since!
She swept the draughty pleasance,
The blooms had left the trees,
The whilst the birds sang canticles,
In cherry symphonies.
Redness of the red,
She went to cut the blush-rose buds
To tie at the altar-head;
And some she laid in her bosom,
And some around her brows,
And, as she passed, the lily-heads
All becked and made their bows.
Yellow of the corn,
The men were at the garnering,
A-shouting in the morn;
I chased her to a pippin-tree,—
The waking birds all whist,—
And oh! it was the sweetest kiss
That I have ever kiss’d.
A-drying round us set,
’T was all done in the faïence
A-spicing marmalet;
On one tile was a satyr,
On one a nymph at bay,
Methinks the birds will scarce be home
To wake our wedding-day!