And last month’s life is a leaf that’s rotten,
And flasks are filled and game bags gotten,
And from green underwood and cover
Pheasant on Pheasant his flight begins.”
——:o:——
The peculiar metre in which “Dolores” and the Dedication of the “Poems and Ballads” Volume are written, although it invites parody, is difficult to imitate successfully. The ending line of each stanza abruptly cut short is a trick in composition which few but Mr. Swinburne himself have thoroughly mastered.
The following stanzas from the Dedication will enable readers to perceive how closely they have been parodied by Mr. Pollock.
The sea gives her shells to the shingle,
The earth gives her streams to the sea;
They are many, but my gift is single,