| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | The Dragon-fly | | By Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) |
| | | LIFE (priest and poet say) is but a dream; | |
| I wish no happier one than to be laid | |
| Beneath a cool syringa’s scented shade, | |
| Or wavy willow, by the running stream, | |
| Brimful of moral, where the dragon-fly, | 5 |
| Wanders as careless and content as I. | |
| Thanks for this fancy, insect king, | |
| Of purple crest and filmy wing, | |
| Who with indifference givest up | |
| The water-lily’s golden cup, | 10 |
| To come again and overlook | |
| What I am writing in my book. | |
| Believe me, most who read the line | |
| Will read with hornier eyes than thine; | |
| And yet their souls shall live for ever, | 15 |
| And thine drop dead into the river! | |
| God pardon them, O insect king, | |
| Who fancy so unjust a thing! | | | | |
|
|
