| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | The Miller’s Daughter | | By Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) |
| | | IT is the miller’s daughter, | |
| And she is grown so dear, so dear, | |
| That I would be the jewel | |
| That trembles in her ear: | |
| For hid in ringlets day and night, | 5 |
| I’d touch her neck so warm and white. | |
| |
| And I would be the girdle | |
| About her dainty dainty waist, | |
| And her heart would beat against me, | |
| In sorrow and in rest: | 10 |
| And I should know if it beat right, | |
| I’d clasp it round so close and tight. | |
| |
| And I would be the necklace, | |
| And all day long to fall and rise | |
| Upon her balmy bosom, | 15 |
| With her laughter or her sighs: | |
| And I would lie so light, so light, | |
| I scarce should be unclasp’d at night. | | | | |
|
|
