| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| A Vain Wish |
| | | Philip Bourke Marston (1850–87) |
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| I WOULD not, could I, make thy life as mine; | |
| Only I would, if such a thing might be, | |
| Thou shouldst not, love, forget me utterly; | |
| Yea, when the sultry stars of summer shine | |
| On dreaming woods, where nightingales repine, | 5 |
| I would that at such times should come to thee | |
| Some thought not quite unmix’d with pain, of me,— | |
| Some little sorrow for a soul’s decline. | |
| Yea, too, I would that through thy brightest times, | |
| Like the sweet burden of remember’d rhymes, | 10 |
| That gentle sadness should be with thee, dear; | |
| And when the gates of sleep are on thee shut, | |
| I Would not, even then, it should be mute, | |
| But murmur, shell-like, at thy spirit ’s ear. | |
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