| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| In the Twilight |
| | | George Cotterell (b. 1839) |
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| FAR off? Not far away | |
| Lies that fair land; | |
| Shut from the curious gaze by day, | |
| Hidden, but close at hand: | |
| Let us seek it who may. | 5 |
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| Lie by me and hold me, sweet, | |
| Clasp arms and sink; | |
| There needs no weariness of the feet, | |
| Neither to toil nor think; | |
| Almost the pulse may cease to beat. | 10 |
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| Eyes made dim, and breathing low, | |
| Hand locked in hand, | |
| Goodly the visions that come and go, | |
| Glimpses of that land | |
| Fairer than the eyes can know. | 15 |
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| Is it not a land like ours? | |
| Nay, much more fair; | |
| Sweeter flowers than earthly flowers | |
| Shed their fragance there, | |
| Fade not with the passing hours. | 20 |
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| Soft are all the airs that blow, | |
| Breathing of love; | |
| Dreamily soft the vales below, | |
| The skies above, | |
| And all the murmuring streams that flow. | 25 |
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| There are daughters of beauty, the host | |
| Of nymphs of old time; | |
| All the loves of the poets who boast | |
| Of their loves in their rhyme,— | |
| Loves won, and the sadder loves lost: | 30 |
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| Fair, passionless creatures of thought, | |
| Most fair, most calm; | |
| The joy of whose beauty has brought | |
| To the soul its own balm; | |
| Not desire that cometh to naught. | 35 |
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| The dreams that were dreamed long ago | |
| Lie treasured there still; | |
| For the things that the dreamers foreknow | |
| The years shall fulfil, | |
| The fleet years and slow. | 40 |
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| Dreams, memories, hopes that were bright, | |
| And hearts that were young; | |
| All the stars and the glories of night, | |
| All the glories of song,— | |
| They are there, in that land of delight. | 45 |
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| Wilt thou seek that land then, sweet? | |
| Yea, love, with thee; | |
| Fleet, as thy soul’s wings are fleet, | |
| Shall our passage be: | |
| Soft, on wings of noiseless beat. | 50 |
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| Bid my wings with thine expand; | |
| So may we glide | |
| Into the stillness of that land, | |
| Lovingly side by side, | |
| Hopefully hand in hand. | 55 |
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