Poem by Henry Alford

Sacred to the Memory of E. S.

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.

1. An Evening in Autumn, near Nether Stowey, Somerset
2. Summit of Skiddaw, July 7, 1838
3. Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, July, 1836
4. Descent of the Same
5. Inscription for the Ruin of a Village Cross

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