Sacred to the Memory of E. S.

Henry Alford

Written at Worthy Farm, near Porlock, Somerset

 

THIS side the brow of yon sea-bounding hill

There is an alley overarched with green,

Where thick-grown briers entwine themselves at will;

There, twinkling through the under-flowers, is seen

The ever-shaking ocean far below;

And on the upper side, a rocky wall

Where deepest mosses and lithe ivies grow,

And honeysuckle-blooms in clusters fall.

There walked I when I last remembered thee;

And all too joyfully came o’er my mind

Moments of pleasure by the southern sea,

By our young lives two summers left behind;

Ah, sad-sweet memory,—for that very day

The gloom came on which may not pass away.