Works

All on a golden summer day,
As through the leaves a single ray
Of yellow sunshine finds its way
So bright, so bright;
The wakened birds that blithely sing
Seem welcoming another spring;...

Dainty little Love came tripping
Down the hill,
Smiling as he thought of sipping
Sweets at will.
SHE said, "No,
Love must go."
Dainty little Love came tripping
Down the hill.
...

Of all the joys on earth that be
There is no sweeter one to me
Than sitting with a merry lass
From consomm' to demi-tasse.

And yet a golden hour I'd steal,
Reverse the order of the meal,...

I fill my goblet to the brim
And clink the glasses rim to rim.
Across the board I waft a kiss
With thanks for such an hour as this,
And clasping joy, bid sorrow flee,
And welcome you my vis-'-vis.

Give me but a bit to eat,
And an hour or two,
Just a salad and a sweet,
And a chat with you.
Give me table full or bare,
Crust or rich ragout;
But whatever be the fare,
Always give me you.

Time and I have fallen out;
We, who were such steadfast friends.
So slowly has it come about
That none may tell when it began;
Yet sure am I a cunning plan
Runs through it all;...

[To M.]


With brilliant friends surrounding me,
So cosy at the Club I'm sitting;
While you at home I seem to see,
Attending strictly to your knitting.
...

The thistle-down floats on the air, the air,
Whenever the soft wind blows,
And the wind can tell just where, just where
The feathery thistle-down goes.
And it tells the bird in a single word,...