| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Too Late |
| | | William James Linton (1812–97) |
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| YES! thou art fair, and I had lov’d | |
| If we in earlier hours had met; | |
| But ere tow’rd me thy beauty mov’d | |
| The sun of Love’s brief day had set. | |
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| Though I may watch thy opening bloom, | 5 |
| And its rich promise gladly see, | |
| ’T will not procrastinate my doom: | |
| The ripen’d fruit is not for me. | |
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| Yet, had I shar’d thy course of years, | |
| And young as Hope beheld thy charms, | 10 |
| The love that only now endears | |
| Perchance had given thee to my arms. | |
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| Vain, vain regret! Another day | |
| Will kiss the buds of younger flowers, | |
| But ne’er will evening turn away | 15 |
| From love untimelier than ours. | |
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