With thanks to Historian and Poet Becky Bishop for
reminding me that I had not yet researched Georgina who is on the List of Female Poets
Georgina Byng Paget was born in Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK in 1874, the birth being registered in the first quarter. Her parents were Herbert Byng Paget (1846 – 1914) and his wife, Clara Fraser Paget, nee Robinson. Georgina was baptised on 25th February 1874.
In June 1904, Georgina Byng Paget married Eric Morton Paget. Eric was the fourth son of the Rev. Edward Heneage Paget. In 1911, Georgina and Eric were living in Great Barton, Suffolk.
Georgina died at Hindhead, Surrey on 14th September 1916.
Her poetry collection “Song of the Unborn, and other poems” was published by Grant Richards, London, in 1916.
“AFTERWARDS” by Georgina B. Paget
LAST night I dreamed he came to me,
My soldier and my saint:
Somewhere, far off, an earthly sea
Beat desolate and faint;
In a dim twilight place we met,
No world before, behind.
I could not see his face, and yet
I knew his eyes were kind.
No words; he knew my heavy part -—
Longing that may not cease —
And, knowing that he knew, my heart
Fell upon utter peace.
And then I woke: a late cock crew,
The clocks were chiming seven—
O God! if Heaven be dreams come true
We need not dream, in Heaven.
From “Song of the Unborn” p. 13
LET'S PRETEND
I have a friend who is more than a friend,
But he may not tell me so ;
We play at the game of Let’s Pretend,
And he doesn’t know that I know.
We could never win through the gate of Sin
To the haven of heart’s desire;
Let us wait awhile (with a sigh and a smile
Lest our pearl be lost in mire.
So, because my friend is more than my friend
I never must tell him so;
But play at the game of Let's Pretend,—
And he'll never know that I know.
From “Song of the Unborn” p. 38.
Soures:
Catherine W. Reilly "English Poetry of the First World War: A Bibliography" (St. Martin's Press, New York, 1978) p. 247.
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=PRS/SURREY/BUR/0498602
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBC/1911/RG14/10632/0033/2
