| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| The Passionate Reader to His Poet |
| | | Richard Le Gallienne (1866–1947) |
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| DOTH it not thrill thee, Poet, | |
| Dead and dust though thou art, | |
| To feel how I press thy singing | |
| Close to my heart? | |
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| Take it at night to my pillow, | 5 |
| Kiss it before I sleep, | |
| And again when the delicate morning | |
| Beginneth to peep? | |
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| See how I bathe thy pages | |
| Here in the light of the sun, | 10 |
| Through thy leaves, as a wind among roses, | |
| The breezes shall run. | |
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| Feel how I take thy poem | |
| And bury within it my face | |
| As I pressed it last night in the heart of a flower, | 15 |
| Or deep in a dearer place. | |
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| Think, as I love thee, Poet, | |
| A thousand love beside, | |
| Dear women love to press thee too | |
| Against a sweeter side. | 20 |
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| Art thou not happy, Poet? | |
| I sometimes dream that I | |
| For such a fragrant fame as thine | |
| Would gladly sing and die. | |
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| Say, wilt thou change thy glory | 25 |
| For this same youth of mine? | |
| And I will give my days i’ the sun | |
| For that great song of thine. | |
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