| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| A Shepherd Maiden |
| | | Edward Cracroft Lefroy (b. 1855) |
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| ON shores of Sicily a shape of Greece! | |
| Dear maid, what means this lonely communing | |
| With winds and waves? What fancy, what caprice, | |
| Has drawn thee from thy fellows? Do they fling | |
| Rude jests at thee? Or seekest thou surcease | 5 |
| Of drowsy toil in noonday shepherding? | |
| Enough: Our questions cannot break thy peace; | |
| Thou art a shade,—a long-entombéd thing. | |
| But still we see thy sun-lit face, O sweet, | |
| Shining eternal where it shone of yore; | 10 |
| Still comes a vision of blue-veinéd feet | |
| That stand forever on a pebbly shore; | |
| While round, the tidal waters flow and fleet | |
| And ripple, ripple, ripple, evermore. | |
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