"A

ON A NANKIN PLATE.

(VILLANELLE.)

H me, but it might have been!

Was there ever so dismal a fate?"

Quoth the little blue mandarin.

"Such a maid as was never seen!

She passed, tho' I cried to her 'Wait,'— Ah me, but it might have been!

"I cried, 'O my Flower, my Queen, Be mine!' 'Twas precipitate,"Quoth the little blue mandarin,

"But then.. she was just sixteen,-
Long-eyed,-
-as a lily straight,-
Ah me, but it might have been!

"As it was, from her palankeen,

She laughed-'You're a week too late!"" (Quoth the little blue mandarin.)

Q

"That is why, in a mist of spleen,
I mourn on this Nankin Plate.
Ah me, but it might have been!"-
Quoth the little blue mandarin.

1881.

FOR A COPY OF THEOCRITUS.

(VILLANELLE.)

SINGER of the field and fold,

THEOCRITUS! Pan's pipe was thine,

Thine was the happier Age of Gold.

For thee the scent of new-turned mould,
The bee-hives, and the murmuring pine,
O Singer of the field and fold!

Thou sang'st the simple feasts of old,—
The beechen bowl made glad with wine..
Thine was the happier Age of Gold.

Thou bad'st the rustic loves be told,—
Thou bad'st the tuneful reeds combine,
O Singer of the field and fold!

And round thee, ever-laughing, rolled
The blithe and blue Sicilian brine..
Thine was the happier Age of Gold.

Alas for us! Our songs are cold;

Our Northern suns too sadly shine :—
O Singer of the field and fold,
Thine was the happier Age of Gold !

1880.

"TU NE QUAESIERIS.”

SEEK

(VILLANELLE.)

EEK not, O Maid, to know (Alas! unblest the trying!) When thou and I must go.

No lore of stars can show.
What shall be, vainly prying,
Seek not, O Maid, to know.

Will Jove long years bestow ?—
Or is 't with this one dying,
That thou and I must go ;

Now,-when the great winds blow, And waves the reef are plying?.. Seek not, O Maid, to know.

Rather let clear wine flow,
On no vain hope relying;
When thou and I must go