| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | To a Lofty Beauty, from her Poor Kinsman | | By Hartley Coleridge (1796–1849) |
| | | FAIR maid, had I not heard thy baby cries, | |
| Nor seen thy girlish, sweet vicissitude, | |
| Thy mazy motions, striving to elude, | |
| Yet wooing still a parent’s watchful eyes, | |
| Thy humours, many as the opal’s dyes, | 5 |
| And lovely all;—methinks thy scornful mood, | |
| And bearing high of stately womanhood,— | |
| Thy brow, where Beauty sits to tyrannize | |
| O’er humble love, had made me sadly fear thee; | |
| For never sure was seen a royal bride, | 10 |
| Whose gentleness gave grace to so much pride— | |
| My very thoughts would tremble to be near thee: | |
| But when I see thee at thy father’s side, | |
| Old times unqueen thee, and old loves endear thee. | | | | |
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