Chapter I: Front Matter

A VERS DE SOCIÉTÉ ANTHOLOGY

“_I’M a florist in verse, and what would people say
If I came to a banquet without my bouquet?_”
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

A Vers de Société Anthology

Collected by
Carolyn Wells

New York
Charles Scribner’s Sons
1907

COPYRIGHT 1907 BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS

Published November, 1907

NOTE

ACKNOWLEDGMENT is hereby gratefully made to the publishers for permission to use poems by the following authors:

To Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin and Company for poems by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, John Greenleaf Whittier, Bret Harte, John G. Saxe, Norah Perry, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James T. Field, Edith Thomas, Edmund Clarence Stedman and Charles Henry Webb.

To Messrs. Dodd, Mead and Company for poems by Austin Dobson.

To the Macmillan Company for poems by Lewis Carroll.

To Messrs. D. Appleton and Company for “Song,” by William Cullen Bryant.

To The Century Company for poems by Robert Underwood Johnson and Mary Mapes Dodge.

To Messrs. Little, Brown and Company for “A Valentine,” by Mrs. Laura E. Richards, and “Shadows” and “Les Papillottes,” by Gertrude Hall.

To Messrs. G. P. Putnam’s Sons for “The Debutante,” by Guy Wetmore Carryl.

To The Frederick A. Stokes Company for poems by Frank Dempster Sherman and Samuel Minturn Peck.

To The Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company for poems by Sam Walter Foss.

To Messrs. E. H. Bacon and Company for poems by James Jeffrey Roche.

CONTENTS

PAGE
Introduction xix
To Celia _Ben Jonson_ 3
Cupid _Ben Jonson_ 4
Rosalind’s Madrigal _Thomas Lodge_ 5
All Things Except Myself I Know _François Villon_ 6
Cupid and Campaspe _John Lilly_ 8
A Ditty _Sir Philip Sydney_ 8
Song from “Twelfth Night” _William Shakespeare_ 9
Sigh No More (from “Much Ado About
Nothing”) _William Shakespeare_ 9
Phillida and Corydon _Nicholas Breton_ 10
Cherry-Ripe _Richard Allison_ 11
Send Back My Long-Stray’d Eyes to Me _John Donne_ 12
Pack Clouds Away _Thomas Heywood_ 13
Shall I, Wasting in Despair _George Wither_ 14
To the Virgins to Make Much of Time _Robert Herrick_ 15
The Bracelet _Robert Herrick_ 16
An Old Rhyme _Anonymous_ 17
Love Me Not for Comely Grace _Anonymous_ 17
On a Girdle _Edmund Waller_ 18
To My Love _Sir John Suckling_ 18
To Althea (From Prison) _Richard Lovelace_ 19
Song _Sir Charles Sedley_ 21
The Despairing Lover _William Walsh_ 22
Cupid Mistaken _Matthew Prior_ 23
The Contrast _Charles Morris_ 24
Oh, Tell Me How to Woo Thee _Robert Graham_ 27
Song from “The Duenna” _Richard Brinsley Sheridan_ 28
The Races _George Ellis_ 29
To Lady Anne Hamilton _Hon. William R. Spencer_ 32
To Mrs. Leigh Upon Her Wedding Day _George Canning_ 33
Names _Samuel T. Coleridge_ 34
The Exchange _Samuel T. Coleridge_ 34
Defiance _Walter Savage Landor_ 35
Her Lips _Walter Savage Landor_ 35
Commination _Walter Savage Landor_ 36
Margaret and Dora _Thomas Campbell_ 36
A Certain Young Lady _Washington Irving_ 37
Song _John Shaw_ 38
The Time I’ve Lost in Wooing _Thomas Moore_ 39
When I Loved You _Thomas Moore_ 40
Reason, Folly and Beauty _Thomas Moore_ 41
Tiresome Spring! _Béranger_ 42
Rosette _Béranger_ 43
She Is So Pretty _Béranger_ 44
Rondeau _Leigh Hunt_ 45
Stolen Fruit _Leigh Hunt_ 45
Love and Age _Thomas L. Peacock_ 46
Clubs _Theodore Hook_ 48
To Anne _William Maxwell_ 51
Song _William Cullen Bryant_ 51
What Is London’s Last New Lion? _Thomas Haynes Bayly_ 53
I’d Be a Butterfly _Thomas Haynes Bayly_ 54
I Must Come Out Next Spring _Thomas Haynes Bayly_ 55
Why Don’t the Men Propose? _Thomas Haynes Bayly_ 57
Ask and Have _Samuel Lover_ 59
Lines in a Young Lady’s Album _Thomas Hood_ 60
The Time of Roses _Thomas Hood_ 62
Love _Thomas Hood_ 63
To Helen _Winthrop Mackworth Praed_ 64
The Belle of the Ball-Room _Winthrop Mackworth Praed_ 64
Amy’s Cruelty _Elizabeth Barrett Browning_ 68
Beware! _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ 70
Love in a Cottage _Nathaniel Parker Willis_ 71
Because _Edward Fitzgerald_ 73
Lilian _Alfred Tennyson_ 75
The Henchman _John Greenleaf Whittier_ 76
Dorothy Q. A Family Portrait _Oliver Wendell Holmes_ 78
A Reminiscence _James Freeman Clarke_ 81
The Age of Wisdom _William Makepeace Thackeray_ 82
The Ballad of Bouillabaisse _William Makepeace Thackeray_ 83
An Invitation _Théophile Gautier_ 86
Fanny; or, The Beauty and the Bee _Charles Mackay_ 88
Garden Fancies The Flower’s Name _Robert Browning_ 89
A Poem of Every Day Life _Albert Riddle_ 91
Love Disposed Of _Robert Traill Spence Lowell_ 93
Mabel, in New Hampshire _James Thomas Fields_ 94
The Coquette A Portrait _John Godfrey Saxe_ 96
Justine, You Love Me Not! _John Godfrey Saxe_ 98
Sing Heigh-Ho! _Charles Kingsley_ 99
Snowdrop _William Wetmore Story_ 100
The Protest. _James Russell Lowell_ 101
Scherzo _James Russell Lowell_ 101
The Handsomest Man in the Room _William Macquorn Rankine_ 102
The Lawyer’s Invocation to Spring _Henry Howard Brownell_ 104
A Terrible Infant _Frederick Locker-Lampson_ 105
Loulou and Her Cat _Frederick Locker-Lampson_ 106
Piccadilly _Frederick Locker-Lampson_ 107
A Word that Makes Us Linger _Frederick Locker-Lampson_ 109
My Mistress’s Boots _Frederick Locker-Lampson_ 110
A Nice Correspondent! _Frederick Locker-Lampson_ 112
There’s a Time to Be Jolly _Charles Godfrey Leland_ 114
I Remember, I Remember _Phoebe Cary_ 115
The Flower of Love Lies Bleeding _Richard Henry Stoddard_ 116
The Gold Room. An Idyl _Bayard Taylor_ 118
Comfort _Mortimer Collins_ 119
A Summer Song _Mortimer Collins_ 120
My Aunt’s Spectre _Mortimer Collins_ 121
A Conceit _Mortimer Collins_ 122
Martial in London _Mortimer Collins_ 123
The Best of the Ball _William Sawyer_ 123
The Ballad of Dead Ladies
(Translation from François
Villon, 1450) _Dante Gabriel Rossetti_ 125
Feminine Arithmetic _Charles Graham Halpine_ 127
A Trifle _Henry Timrod_ 128
Flight _Charles S. Calverley_ 129
Love _Charles S. Calverley_ 132
Since We Parted _Owen Meredith_ 134
A Kiss—By Mistake _Joel Benton_ 134
A Game of Fives _Lewis Carroll_ 135
A Valentine _Lewis Carroll_ 137
The Wedding Day _Edmund Clarence Stedman_ 139
Edged Tools _Edmund Clarence Stedman_ 140
Witchcraft _Edmund Clarence Stedman_ 142
Toujours Amour _Edmund Clarence Stedman_ 143
Dictum Sapienti _Charles Henry Webb_ 144
Undowered _Harriet McEwen Kimball_ 145
The Love-Knot _Nora Perry_ 146
Vers de Société _H. D. Traill_ 147
A Letter of Advice _Thomas Hood, Jr._ 149
At the Lattice _Alfred Austin_ 151
French with a Master _Theodore Tilton_ 152
On an Intaglio Head of Minerva _Thomas Bailey Aldrich_ 154
The Lunch _Thomas Bailey Aldrich_ 155
The Witch in the Glass _Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt_ 156
To Phoebe _William Schwenck Gilbert_ 156
My Love and My Heart _Henry S. Leigh_ 157
To a Country Cousin _Henry S. Leigh_ 158
The Family Fool _William Schwenck Gilbert_ 160
An Interlude _Algernon Charles Swinburne_ 162
A Match _Algernon Charles Swinburne_ 165
Caprice _William Dean Howells_ 167
The Minuet _Mary Mapes Dodge_ 168
A Street Sketch _J. Ashby-Sterry_ 170
Saint May: A City Lyric _J. Ashby-Sterry_ 171
Pet’s Punishment _J. Ashby-Sterry_ 173
Her Letter _Francis Bret Harte_ 174
Avice _Austin Dobson_ 177
A Song of the Four Seasons _Austin Dobson_ 179
In Town _Austin Dobson_ 181
When I Saw You Last, Rose _Austin Dobson_ 183
To “Lydia Languish” _Austin Dobson_ 184
The Old Sedan Chair _Austin Dobson_ 186
“Le Roman de la Rose” _Austin Dobson_ 188
Ninety-nine in the Shade _Rossiter Johnson_ 190
Brighton Pier _Clement Scott_ 191
A Contradiction _Clement Scott_ 192
Rondel _John Payne_ 194
White, Pillared Neck _Richard Watson Gilder_ 194
Janet _Richard Watson Gilder_ 195
For a Fan _Richard Watson Gilder_ 196
Ballade of Summer _Andrew Lang_ 196
Colinette _Andrew Lang_ 198
Ballade of Dead Ladies (After
Villon) _Andrew Lang_ 199
Il Bacio _Paul Verlaine_ 200
Sur l’Herbe _Paul Verlaine_ 201
The Romance of a Glove _H. Savile Clarke_ 202
If _James Jeffrey Roche_ 203
“Don’t” _James Jeffrey Roche_ 204
On Rereading Télémaque _James Jeffrey Roche_ 205
Valentine _James Jeffrey Roche_ 206
Biftek aux Champignons _Henry Augustin Beers_ 206
An Explanation _Walter Learned_ 209
Marjorie’s Kisses _Walter Learned_ 209
Miss Nancy’s Gown _Zitella Cocke_ 210
“Le Dernier Jour d’un Condamné” _George A. Baker_ 212
My Wooing _Edwin Hamilton_ 213
Wintry Paris _Anonymous_ 215
The Rose _Anonymous_ 216
Indecision _Anonymous_ 217
Logic _Anonymous_ 218
Conversational _Anonymous_ 219
If You Want a Kiss, Why, Take It _Anonymous_ 220
Educational Courtship _Anonymous_ 221
Kissing’s No Sin _Anonymous_ 223
The Best Thing in the World _Anonymous_ 223
Her Neighbours _Anonymous_ 224
To Celia _E. H. Lacon Watson_ 225
In For It _Somerville Gibney_ 225
Kirtle Red _W. H. Bellamy_ 227
A Bagatelle _James G. Burnett_ 228
A Love Test _Carl Herlozssohn_ 229
The Mistaken Moth _Translated from Wegener_ 229
My Pretty Neighbor _Translated from Wegener_ 230
If _H. C. Dodge_ 231
To Mistress Pyrrha _Eugene Field_ 232
The Tea-Gown _Eugene Field_ 232
A Paraphrase _Eugene Field_ 234
A Leap-Year Episode _Eugene Field_ 236
Ballade of Ladies’ Names _W. E. Henley_ 236
Ballade of June _W. E. Henley_ 237
Ballade Made in the Hot Weather _W. E. Henley_ 238
A Rose _Arlo Bates_ 240
To Minnie (With a Hand Glass) _Robert Louis Stevenson_ 241
An American Girl _Brander Matthews_ 241
Larks and Nightingales _Nathan Haskell Dole_ 242
Caeli _Francis William Bourdillon_ 244
Lady Mine _Herbert Edwin Clarke_ 244
The Ripest Peach _James Whitcomb Riley_ 245
“I Journeyed South to Meet the
Spring” _Robert Underwood Johnson_ 246
Before the Blossom _Robert Underwood Johnson_ 246
Love in the Calendar _Robert Underwood Johnson_ 247
My Grandmother’s Turkey-Tail Fan _Samuel Minturn Peck_ 249
Valentine _Edith Matilda Thomas_ 250
A Valentine _Laura Elizabeth Richards_ 251
On a Hymn Book _W. J. Henderson_ 252
The Ballade of the Summer-Boarder _H. C. Bunner_ 254
Interesting _H. C. Bunner_ 256
The Way to Arcady _H. C. Bunner_ 257
Da Capo _H. C. Bunner_ 260
The Maid of Murray Hill _H. C. Bunner_ 262
Kitty’s Summering _H. C. Bunner_ 264
Forfeits _H. C. Bunner_ 265
When Will Love Come? _Pakenham Beatty_ 266
Heliotrope _Harry Thurston Peck_ 266
Borderland _Herman Knickerbocker Vielé_ 269
Epithalamium _E. S. Martin_ 270
Infirm _E. S. Martin_ 273
Words, Words, Words _Margaret Deland_ 273
The Bluebell _Margaret Deland_ 274
A Modern Martyrdom _Sam Walter Foss_ 275
A Corsage Bouquet _Charles Henry Lüders_ 277
The Ballad of Cassandra Brown _Helen Gray Cone_ 278
From Three Fly Leaves _J. K. Stephen_ 280
Question and Answer _J. K. Stephen_ 281
A Rhyme for Priscilla _Frank Dempster Sherman_ 283
The Old Collector _Beatrice Hanscom_ 285
The Last Ditch _E. Nesbit_ 288
Be Ye in Love with April-Tide _Clinton Scollard_ 289
Strawberries _Clinton Scollard_ 290
Applied Astronomy _Esther B. Tiffany_ 291
Courtship _Frederick Langbridge_ 292
Eyes of Black and Eyes of Blue
(from the Viceroy) _Harry B. Smith_ 293
Her Faults (from The Mandarin) _Harry B. Smith_ 295
A Modern Dialogue _Oliver Herford_ 296
The Poet’s Proposal _Oliver Herford_ 299
Truth _Oliver Herford_ 299
The Bachelor Girl _Oliver Herford_ 300
The Sea _Eva L. Ogden_ 301
In Philistia _Bliss Carman_ 302
Between the Showers _Amy Levy_ 304
Grace’s Choice _Charles Battell Loomis_ 305
To Violet. With a Bunch of
Namesakes _Robert Cameron Rogers_ 306
Her Bonnet _Mary E. Wilkins_ 307
A Song _Norman R. Gale_ 308
Les Papillottes _Gertrude Hall_ 309
Upon Graciosa, Walking and Talking _A. T. Quiller-Couch_ 311
Her Valentine _Richard Hovey_ 311
Story of the Gate _Harrison Robertson_ 314
Two Triolets _Harrison Robertson_ 316
A Ballade of Old Sweethearts _Richard Le Gallienne_ 317
Amour de Voyage _Rudyard Kipling_ 318
The Lover’s Litany _Rudyard Kipling_ 319
A Lenten Call _Hilda Johnson Wise_ 321
Helen’s Face a Book _Gelett Burgess_ 322
The Butterfly’s Madrigal _Gelett Burgess_ 323
Ballade of the Devil-May-Care _Gelett Burgess_ 323
Ballade of Dreams Transposed _Gelett Burgess_ 325
Villanelle of His Lady’s Treasures _Ernest Dowson_ 326
L’Envoi _E. B. Reed_ 327
A Merry, Blue-Eyed Laddie _Juliet Wilbur Tompkins_ 328
Dance Time _Josephine Preston Peabody
Marks_ 329
How Like a Woman _Caroline and Alice Duer_ 330
A Vignette _Caroline Duer_ 331

INDEX OF TITLES 335

INDEX OF AUTHORS 347