| Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907. | | | Selected Sonnets.
III. The Tides | | By Richard Wilton (1827–1903) |
| | | UP the long slope of this low sandy shore | |
| Are rolled the tidal waters day by day; | |
| Traces of wandering feet are washed away, | |
| Relics of busy hands are seen no more. | |
| The soiled and trampled surface is smooth’d o’er | 5 |
| By punctual waves that high behests obey; | |
| Once and again the tides assert their sway, | |
| And o’er the sands their cleansing waters pour. | |
| Even so, Lord, daily, hourly, o’er my soul | |
| Sin-stained and care-worn, let Thy heavenly Grace— | 10 |
| A blest, atoning flood—divinely roll, | |
| And all the footsteps of the world efface, | |
| That like the wave-washed sand this soul of mine, | |
| Spotless and fair, smooth and serene, may shine! | | | | |
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