In Memoriam "Rover", Ob. July 2, 1902

In Memoriam "Rover", Ob. July 2, 1902

Original Text

New Sonnets by John Payne (London: Villon Society, 1903). University of Virginia Library

1My little gentle cat, whose eyes no dove
2Might ever match for truth and tenderness,
3Whose life was one long effort to express,
4In thy mute speech, an overflowing love,
5The wavering love of women far above,
6I cannot think that death thy gentilesse
7Hath ended all or that thy fond excess
8In this thy ten years' span found scope enough.
9I cannot credit that no soul in bond,
10No thought there was behind those wistful eyes,
11That pleaded for thy dumbness, as one cries
12Out from Life's dusk into the dark beyond,
13Nor doubt somewhen beyond the stars to find
14The soul that lay those looks of thine behind.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
Data entry: Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2012
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