| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| A Song of Farewell |
| | | Dora Greenwell (1821–82) |
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| THE SPRING will come again, dear friends, | |
| The swallow o’er the sea; | |
| The bud will hang upon the bough, | |
| The blossom on the tree; | |
| And many a pleasant sound will rise to greet her on her way, | 5 |
| The voice of bird, and leaf, and stream, and warm winds in their play | |
| Ah! sweet the airs that round her breathe! and bountiful is she, | |
| She bringeth all the things that fresh, and sweet, and hopeful be; | |
| She scatters promise on the earth with open hand and free, | |
| But not for me, my friends, | 10 |
| But not for me! | |
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| Summer will come again, dear friends, | |
| Low murmurs of the bee | |
| Will rise through the long sunny day | |
| Above the flowery lea; | 15 |
| And deep the dreamy woods will own the slumbrous spell she weaves, | |
| And send a greeting, mix’d with sighs, through all their quivering leaves. | |
| Oh, precious are her glowing gifts! and plenteous is she, | |
| She bringeth all the lovely things that bright and fragrant be, | |
| She scatters fulness on the Earth with lavish hand and free, | 20 |
| But not for me, my friends, | |
| But not for me! | |
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| Autumn will come again, dear friends, | |
| His spirit-touch shall be | |
| With gold upon the harvest-field, | 25 |
| With crimson on the tree; | |
| He passeth o’er the silent woods, they wither at his breath, | |
| Slow fading in a still decay, a change that is not Death. | |
| Oh! rich and liberal, and wise, and provident is he! | |
| He taken to his garner-house the things that ripen’d be, | 30 |
| He gathereth his store from Earth, and silently— | |
| And he will gather me, my friends, | |
| He will gather me! | |
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