| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Flowers I Would Bring |
| | | Aubrey Thomas De Vere (b. 1814) |
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| FLOWERS I would bring if flowers could make thee fairer, | |
| And music, if the Muse were dear to thee; | |
| (For loving these would make thee love the bearer) | |
| But sweetest songs forget their melody, | |
| And loveliest flowers would but conceal the wearer:— | 5 |
| A rose I mark’d, and might have pluck’d; but she | |
| Blush’d as she bent, imploring me to spare her, | |
| Nor spoil her beauty by such rivalry. | |
| Alas! and with what gifts shall I pursue thee, | |
| What offerings bring, what treasures lay before thee; | 10 |
| When earth with all her floral train doth woo thee, | |
| And all old poets and old songs adore thee; | |
| And love to thee is naught; from passionate mood | |
| Secur’d by joy’s complacent plenitude! | |
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