Lord Lytton

Unseen hands delay
The coming of what oft seems close in ken,
And, contrary, the moment, when read more

Unseen hands delay
The coming of what oft seems close in ken,
And, contrary, the moment, when we say
"'Twill never come!" comes on us even then.

Alas! must it ever be so?
Do we stand in our own light, wherever we go,
And read more

Alas! must it ever be so?
Do we stand in our own light, wherever we go,
And fight our own shadows forever?

Oh, better no doubt is a dinner of herbs,
When season'd with love, which no rancour disturbs
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Oh, better no doubt is a dinner of herbs,
When season'd with love, which no rancour disturbs
And sweeten'd by all that is sweetest in life
Than turbot, bisque, ortolans, eaten in strife!
But if, out of humour, and hungry, alone
A man should sit down to dinner, each one
Of the dishes which the cook chooses to spoil
With a horrible mixture of garlic and oil,
The chances are ten against one, I must own,
He gets up as ill-tempered as when he sat down.

Through tall cowslips nodding near you,
Just to touch you as you pass.

Through tall cowslips nodding near you,
Just to touch you as you pass.

We are but as the instrument of Heaven.
Our work is not design, but destiny.

We are but as the instrument of Heaven.
Our work is not design, but destiny.