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

Stopford Augustus Brooke b. 1832

Songs from “Riquet of the Tuft.” II. Prince Riquet’s Song

O LONG ago, when Faeryland

Arose new born, King Oberon

Walk’d pensive on the yellow strand,

And wearied, for he liv’d alone.

“Why have I none, he said, to love?”

When soft a wind began to fleet

Across the moonlit sea, and drove

A lonely shallop to his feet.

Of pearl, and rubies red, and gold,

That shell was made, and in it lay

Titania fast asleep, and roll’d

In roses, and in flowers of May.

He wak’d her with a loving kiss,

Her arms around him softly clung;

And none can ever tell the bliss

These had when Faeryland was young.