| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
| |
| Time |
| | | Frederick George Scott (b. 1861) |
| |
| |
| I SAW Time in his workshop carving faces; | |
| Scattered around his tools lay, blunting griefs, | |
| Sharp cares that cut out deeply in reliefs | |
| Of light and shade; sorrows that smooth the traces | |
| Of what were smiles. Nor yet without fresh graces | 5 |
| His handiwork, for ofttimes rough were ground | |
| And polished, oft the pinched made smooth and round; | |
| The calm look, too, the impetuous fire replaces. | |
| Long time I stood and watched; with hideous grin | |
| He took each heedless face between his knees, | 10 |
| And graved and scarred and bleached with boiling tears. | |
| I wondering turned to go, when, lo! my skin | |
| Feels crumpled, and in glass my own face sees | |
| Itself all changed, scarred, careworn, white with years. | |
| |
|
|
|
