In Memoriam.
On a balcony fronting the river1
We sat on the day of the race,2
She scanning the crowd with a shiver,3
I warmed by her one little face.4
When at last, with a tumult of cheering,5
O’er the current, like coursers of strength,6
The ’Varsity boats came careering,7
She cried, ‘ Cambridge wins by a length !’8
But I, in her eager eyes gazing,9
Where the violet laughingly shone,10
Cried, ‘ Oxford, we’re quits in the racing,11
For your dark blue already has won !’12