Arthur Upson (1877-1908). Epigram: Out of the conquered Past. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1907. The Book of Elizabethan Verse

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907.

Epigram: “Out of the conquered Past”

By Arthur Upson (1877–1908)


OUT of the conquered Past
Unravishable Beauty;
Hearts that are dew and dust
Rebuking the dream of Death;
Flower of the clay down-cast	5
Triumphant in earth’s aroma;
Strings that were strained in rust
A-tremble with Music’s breath!

Wine that was spilt in haste
Arising in fumes more precious;	10
Garlands that fell forgot
Rooting to wondrous bloom;
Youth that would flow to waste
Pausing in pool-green valleys—
And Passion that lasted not	15
Surviving the voiceless Tomb!