| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | I. Enjoy the Present | | By Richard Chenevix Trench (1807–1886) |
| | | WE live not in our moments or our years; | |
| The Present we fling from us like the rind | |
| Of some sweet Future, which we after find | |
| Bitter to taste; or bind that in with fears, | |
| And water it beforehand with our tears, | 5 |
| Vain tears for that which never may arrive. | |
| Meanwhile, the joy whereby we ought to live, | |
| Neglected, or unheeded, disappears. | |
| Wiser it were to welcome and make ours | |
| Whate’er of good, though small, the Present brings,— | 10 |
| Kind greetings, sunshine, song of birds, and flowers, | |
| With a child’s pure delight in little things; | |
| And of the griefs unborn to rest secure, | |
| Knowing that Mercy ever will endure. | | | | |
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