Songs of Love and Empire

By E. Nesbit

"Songs of Love and Empire" is a 1898 collection of poetry by E. Nesbit. Edith Nesbit (1858 – 1924) was an English poet and author. She is perhaps best remembered for her children's literature, publishing more than 60 such books under the name E. Nesbit. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, which had a significant influence on the Labour Party and British politics in general. This wonderful collection of her best poetry will appeal to fans of her work and would make for a fantastic addition to any bookshelf. The poems include: “To The Queen of England”, “After Sixty Years”, “Trafalgar Day”, “A Song of Trafalgar”, “Waterloo Day”, “A Song of Peace and Honour”, “The Ballad of the White Lady”, “The Ghost Bereft”, “The Vain Spell”, “The Adventurer”, “In The Enchanted Tower”, “Faith”, “Prelude”, “At the Sound of the Drum”, “The Goose-Girl”, and more. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Envins Press
• Release date: Jun 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528787659

E. Nesbit

E. Nesbit (1858–1924) began writing for young adults after a successful career in magazines. Using her own unconventional childhood as a jumping-off point, she published novels that combined reality, fantasy, and humor. Expanded from a series of articles in the Strand Magazine, Five Children and It was published as a novel in 1902 and is the first in a trilogy that includes The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Story of the Amulet. Together with her husband, Nesbit was a founding member of the socialist Fabian Society, and her home became a hub for some of the greatest authors and thinkers of the time, including George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells.

Book preview

SONGS OF

LOVE AND EMPIRE

By

E. NESBIT

AUTHOR OF

Lays And Legends,

A Pomander Of Verse, Ect

First published in 1898

This edition published by Read Books Ltd.

Copyright © 2019 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library

"After Sixty Years" appeared on June 22, 1897,

in the Daily News; "To the Queen of England" and many

other verses in the Pall Mall Gazette; "A Song of Peace and Honour and A Song of Trafalgar" in the Daily Chronicle,

and certain other verses in the Athenæum.

To the Editors of these papers my thanks are due.

TO HUBERT BLAND

To you the harvest of my toil has come,

Beause of all that lies its sheaves between;

You taught me first what Love and Empire mean,

And to your hands I bring my harvest home.

Contents

E. Nesbit

I

TO THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND

AFTER SIXTY YEARS

TRAFALGAR DAY

A SONG OF TRAFALGAR

WATERLOO DAY

A SONG OF PEACE AND HONOUR

II

THE BALLAD OF THE WHITE LADY

THE GHOST BEREFT

THE VAIN SPELL

THE ADVENTURER

IN THE ENCHANTED TOWER

FAITH

THE REFUSAL

PRELUDE

AT THE SOUND OF THE DRUM

THE GOOSE-GIRL

THE PEDLAR

THE GUARDIAN ANGEL

III

SHEPHERDS ALL AND MAIDENS FAIR

A PORTRAIT

THE OFFERING

ENTREATY

THE FOREST POOL

DISCRETION

SPRING SONG

TOO LATE

BY FAITH WITH THANKSGIVING

THE APPEAL

AUTUMN SONG

THE LAST ACT

FAUTE DE MIEUX

SONG OF LONG AGO

IN ECLIPSE

SPECIAL PLEADING

LOVE WELL THE HOUR

BETRAYED

THE HEART OF SADNESS

THE HEART OF JOY

THE HEART OF GRIEF

REQUIEM

TEINT NEUTRE

OUT OF HOPE

HAUNTED

A DIRGE

IV

EVENING SONG

THIS DESIRABLE MANSION

EBB-TIDE

ON THE DOWNS

NEW COLLEGE GARDENS, OXFORD

TO A TULIP-BULB

FEBRUARY

THE PROMISE OF SPRING

MEDWAY SONG

CHAINS INVISIBLE

AT EVENING TIME THERE SHALL BE LIGHT

MAIDENHOOD

V

THE MONK

THE CROWN OF LIFE

MAGNIFICAT

EVENING PRAYER

CHRISTMAS HYMN

ABSOLUTION

E. Nesbit

Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey in 1858. Her family moved around constantly during her youth, living variously in Brighton, Buckinghamshire, France, Spain and Germany, before settling for three years in Halstead in north-west Kent, a location which later inspired her well-known novel, The Railway Children. In 1880, Nesbit married Hubert Bland, and her writing talents – which had been in evidence during her teens – were quickly needed to bring in extra money.

Over the course of her life, Nesbit would go on to publish approximately 40 books for children, including novels, collections of stories and picture books. Among her best-known works are The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1898), The Wouldbegoods (1899) and The Railway Children (1906). Nesbit is regarded by many critics as the first truly 'modern' children's writer, in that she replaced the fantastical worlds utilised by authors such as Lewis Carroll with real-life settings marked by the occasional intrusion of magic. In this, Nesbit is seen as a precursor to writers such as J. K. Rowling and C. S. Lewis. Nesbit was also a lifelong socialist; in 1884 she was among the founding members of the influential Fabian Society. For much of her adult life she was an active lecturer and prolific writer on socialism.

Having suffered from lung cancer for some years, Nesbit died in 1924 at New Romney, Kent, aged 65.

I

TO THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND

[June 22, 1897]

Come forth! the world’s aflame with flags and flowers,

The shout of bells fills full the shattered air,

This is the crown of all your golden hours,

More than all other hours august and fair;

This did the years prepare,

A triumph for our Lady and our Queen,

More rich than any king in any land hath seen.

Clothed are your streets with scarlet, gold, and blue,

Flowers under foot and banners over head,

And while your people’s voice storms Heaven for you

About your way are voiceless blessings shed,

And over you are spread

Wide wings of love, free love, tamed to your hand,