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

William James Linton 1812–97

Too Late

Linton-W

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.

Though I may watch thy opening bloom,

And its rich promise gladly see,

’T will not procrastinate my doom:

The ripen’d fruit is not for me.

Yet, had I shar’d thy course of years,

And young as Hope beheld thy charms,

The love that only now endears

Perchance had given thee to my arms.

Vain, vain regret! Another day

Will kiss the buds of younger flowers,

But ne’er will evening turn away

From love untimelier than ours.