| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | Auspex | | By James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) |
| | | MY heart, I cannot still it, | |
| Nest that had song-birds in it; | |
| And when the last shall go, | |
| The dreary days, to fill it, | |
| Instead of lark or linnet, | 5 |
| Shall whirl dead leaves and snow. | |
| |
| Had they been swallows only, | |
| Without the passion stronger | |
| That skyward longs and sings,— | |
| Woe ’s me, I shall be lonely | 10 |
| When I can feel no longer | |
| The impatience of their wings! | |
| |
| A moment, sweet delusion, | |
| Like birds the brown leaves hover; | |
| But it will not be long | 15 |
| Before their wild confusion | |
| Fall wavering down to cover | |
| The poet and his song. | | | | |
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