Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Arthur Reed Ropes b. 1859

On the Bridge

ALL the storm has rolled away,

Only now a cloud or two

Drifts in ragged disarray

Over the deep darkened blue;

And the risen golden moon

Shakes the shadows of the trees

Round the river’s stillnesses

And the birdsong of the June.

Under me the current glides,

Brown and deep and dimly lit,

Soundless save against the sides

Of the arch that narrows it;

And the only sound that grieves

Is a noise that never stops,

Footsteps of the falling drops

Down the ladders of the leaves.