John Payne.
"BEFORE THE DAWN."
Before the dawn begins to glow,
A ghostly company I keep;
Across the silent room they creep,
The buried forms of friend and foe.
Amid the throng that come and go,
There are two eyes that make me weep;
Before the dawn begins to glow,
A ghostly company I keep.
Two dear dead eyes. I love them so!
They shine like starlight on the deep;
And often when I am asleep
They stoop and kiss me, bending low,
Before the dawn begins to glow.
Samuel Minturn Peck.
RONDEL.
Oh, say not ye that summer's over
When birds within the wood stop singing!
While hands still touch in desperate clinging,
Some ghost of hope in hearts must hover;
Though died the dream of loved and lover,
While yet the marriage bells were ringing.
Oh, say not ye that summer's over
When birds within the wood stop singing!
Their vanished hopes may none recover
In some new day, new morrow bringing?
And shall we see no buds fresh springing
Upon the stalks of last year's clover?
Oh, say not ye that summer's over
When birds within the wood stop singing!
May Probyn.