| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| The Pipe-Player |
| | | Sir Edmund William Gosse (1849–1928) |
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| COOL, and palm-shaded from the torrid heat, | |
| The young brown tenor puts his singing by, | |
| And sets the twin pipe to his lips to try | |
| Some air of bulrush-glooms where lovers meet; | |
| O swart musician, time and fame are fleet, | 5 |
| Brief all delight, and youth’s feet fain to fly! | |
| Pipe on in peace! To-morrow must we die? | |
| What matter, if our life to-day be sweet! | |
| Soon, soon, the silver paper-reeds that sigh | |
| Along the Sacred River will repeat | 10 |
| The echo of the dark-stoled bearers’ feet, | |
| Who carry you, with wailing, where must lie | |
| Your swarthed and withered body, by and by | |
| In perfumed darkness with the grains of wheat. | |
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