Poetical Works of Robert Bridges, Volume 2

Chapter 132: 27 AN ANNIVERSARY

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About This Book

A compact collection of short lyrical poems that meditate on memory, seasonal change, love, and the natural world. Many pieces adopt an elegiac or contemplative tone, turning riverbanks, cliffs, gardens, and the sea into prompts for reflection on loss, longing, and the persistence of feeling. The verse mixes concise narrative moments, personified elements, and formal lyrical rhythms, producing musical and measured language. Poems are presented in grouped sections alongside newly gathered pieces and editorial notes, yielding a varied sequence of brief, reflective lyrics and conversational vignettes.

27
AN ANNIVERSARY

Bright, my belovèd, be thy day,

This eve of Summer’s fall:

And Autumn mass his flowers gay

To crown thy festival!

SHE

I care not if the morn be bright,

Living in thy love-rays:

No flower I need for my delight,

Being crownèd with thy praise.

O many years and joyfully

This sun to thee return;

Ever all men speak well of thee,

Nor any angel mourn!

SHE

For length of life I would not pray,

If thy life were to seek;

Nor ask what men and angels say

But when of thee they speak.

Arise! The sky hath heard my song,

The flowers o’erhear thy praise;

And little loves are waking long

To wish thee happy days.