dots-menu
×

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

John Payne b. 1842

Sibyl

THIS is the glamour of the world antique:

The thyme-scents of Hymettus fill the air,

And in the grass narcissus-cups are fair.

The full brook wanders through the ferns to seek

The amber haunts of bees; and on the peak

Of the soft hill, against the gold-marged sky,

She stands, a dream from out the days gone by.

Entreat her not. Indeed, she will not speak!

Her eyes are full of dreams; and in her ears

There is the rustle of immortal wings;

And ever and anon the slow breeze bears

The mystic murmur of the songs she sings.

Entreat her not: she sees thee not, nor hears

Aught but the sights and sounds of bygone springs.