| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| If I Desire |
| | | Thomas Burbidge (b. 1816) |
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| IF I desire with pleasant songs | |
| To throw a merry hour away, | |
| Comes Love unto me, and my wrongs | |
| In careful tale he doth display, | |
| And asks me how I stand for singing | 5 |
| While I my helpless hands am wringing. | |
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| And then another time if I | |
| A noon in shady bower would pass, | |
| Comes he with stealthy gestures sly | |
| And flinging down upon the grass, | 10 |
| Quoth he to me: My master dear, | |
| Think of this noontide such a year! | |
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| And if elsewhere I lay my head | |
| On pillow with intent to sleep, | |
| Lies Love beside me on the bed, | 15 |
| And gives me ancient words to keep; | |
| Says he: These looks, these tokens number, | |
| May be, they ’ll help you to a slumber. | |
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| So every time when I would yield | |
| An hour to quiet, comes he still; | 20 |
| And hunts up every sign conceal’d | |
| And every outward sign of ill; | |
| And gives me his sad face’s pleasures | |
| For merriment’s or sleep’s or leisure’s. | |
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