Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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

Edward Dowden 1843–1913

Two Infinities

Dowden-E

A LONELY way, and as I went my eyes

Could not unfasten from the Spring’s sweet things,

Lush sprouted grass, and all that climbs and clings

In loose, deep hedges, where the primrose lies

In her own fairness, buried blooms surprise

The plunderer bee and stop his murmurings,

And the glad flutter of a finch’s wings

Outstartle small blue speckled butterflies.

Blissfully did one speedwell plot beguile

My whole heart long; I lov’d each separate flower,

Kneeling. I look’d up suddenly—Dear God!

There stretch’d the shining plain for many a mile,

The mountains rose with what invincible power!

And how the sky was fathomless and broad!