| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909. | | | | Upon a Sweet-Briar | | By Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) |
| | | MY briar that smelledst sweet | |
| When gentle spring’s first heat | |
| Ran through thy quiet veins,— | |
| Thou that wouldst injure none, | |
| But wouldst be left alone, | 5 |
| Alone thou leavest me, and nought of thine remains. | |
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| What! hath no poet’s lyre | |
| O’er thee, sweet-breathing briar, | |
| Hung fondly, ill or well? | |
| And yet methinks with thee | 10 |
| A poet’s sympathy, | |
| Whether in weal or woe, in life or death, might dwell. | |
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| Hard usage both must bear, | |
| Few hands your youth will rear, | |
| Few bosoms cherish you; | 15 |
| Your tender prime must bleed | |
| Ere you are sweet, but freed | |
| From life, you then are prized; thus prized are poets too. * * * * * | |
| And art thou yet alive? | |
| And shall the happy hive | 20 |
| Send out her youth to cull | |
| Thy sweets of leaf and flower, | |
| And spend the sunny hour | |
| With thee, and thy faint heart with murmuring music lull? | |
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| Tell me what tender care, | 25 |
| Tell me what pious prayer, | |
| Bade thee arise and live. | |
| The fondest-favoured bee | |
| Shall whisper nought to thee | |
| More loving than the song my grateful muse shall give. | 30 | | | |
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