I Love All Beauteous Things
I love all beauteous things,
I seek and adore them;
God hath no better praise,
And man in his hasty days
Is honoured for them.
I too will something make
And joy in the making;
Although to-morrow it seem
Like the empty world of dream
Remembered on waking.
– Robert Bridges (1844-1930)
Sung by Susan Diamond
Commentary: Robert Bridges was a physician by training and only achieved fame as a poet in later life, becoming Britain’s poet laureate in 1913, a post he held until 1930. “I Love All Beauteous Things” is one of Bridges’ most famous poems. For ease of flow – a priority in his lilts – Dr. Diamond has slightly adapted the penultimate line of the poem, which originally ran “Like the empty words of a dream.”
