Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Selwyn Image b. c.1850

A Prayer

DEAR, let me dream of love,

Ah! though a dream it be!

I ’ll ask no boon, above

A word, a smile, from thee:

At most, in some still hour, one kindly thought of me.

Sweet, let me gaze awhile

Into those radiant eyes!

I ’ll scheme not to beguile

The heart, that deeper lies

Beneath them, than you star in night’s pellucid skies.

Love, let my spirit bow

In worship at thy shrine!

I ’ll swear thou shalt not know

One word from lips of mine,

An instant’s pain to send through that shy soul of thine.