Barry Cornwall

TOUCH us gently, Time!

Gently,—as we sometimes glideThrough a quiet dream.Humble voyagers are We,Husband, wife, and children three—(One is lost,—an angel, fledTo the azure overhead.)Touch us gently, Time!We ’ve not proud nor soaring wings:Our ambition, our content,Lies in simple things.Humble voyagers are We,O’er Life’s dim, unsounded sea,Seeking only some calm clime;—Touch us gently, gentle Time!

King Death was a rare old fellow!

And he lifted his hand so yellow,And poured out his coal-black wine.Hurrah! for the coal-black Wine!There came to him many a Maiden,Whose eyes had forgot to shine;And Widows, with grief o’erladen,For a draught of his sleepy wine.Hurrah! for the coal-black Wine!The Scholar left all his learning;The Poet his fancied woes;And the Beauty her bloom returning,Like…

Inesilla! I am here

Is now beneath thy lattice playing:Why art thou delaying?He hath riden many a mileBut to see thy smile:The young light on the flowers is shining,Yet he is repining.What to him is a summer star,If his love’s afar?What to him the flowers perfuming,When his heart’s consuming?Sweetest girl! I why dost thou hide?Beauty may abideEven before the…

SING, I pray, a little song,

Neither sad nor very long:It is for a little maid,Golden-tressed Adelaide!Therefore let it suit a merry, merry ear,Mother dear!Let it be a merry strain,Mother dear!Shunning e’en the thought of pain:For our gentle child will weep,If the theme be dark and deep;And we will not draw a single, single tear,Mother dear!Childhood should be all divine,Mother dear!And…