| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | VII. Love Sonnets
2. “The rain-drops patter on the casement still” | | By Henry Theodore Tuckerman (1813–1871) |
| | | THE RAIN-DROPS patter on the casement still, | |
| So hushed the room, each faint watch-tick I hear, | |
| The crackling of the embers seems to fill | |
| This brooding quiet with an accent clear: | |
| I ’ve looked awhile upon the gifted page, | 5 |
| Glanced at the dingy roofs and leaden sky, | |
| Or paced the floor my mind to disengage, | |
| Chiding the languid hours as they fly; | |
| In vain! the thought of thee o’ermasters all, | |
| Now waking joy, and now a dark surmise, | 10 |
| As Memory spreads her banquet or her pall, | |
| And bids me hopeless sink or gladsome rise: | |
| On what bright wings these lonely hours would flee, | |
| Dared I but feel that thou hast thought of me! | | | | |
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