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.