After William Morris's "Earthly Paradise."
(Written expressly for this collection.)
Of Love or War this is no hour to sing,
But I may ease the burden of your fears
(Lest you think death to mirth is happening),
And quote from wit of past and present years,
Till o'er these pages you forget your tears,
And smile again, as presently you say
Some idle jingle—or forgotten lay.
But when a-weary of the hunt for mirth
Thro' comic journals with a doleful sigh