| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | IV. “The years, swift waves upon the sea of Time” | | By John R. Tait (1834–1909) |
| | | THE YEARS, swift waves upon the sea of Time, | |
| Melt into foam behind me; a lone bark, | |
| My soul leaps fearless in the future dark, | |
| Love the sweet impulse, Fame the goal sublime. | |
| The summer seas of Youth are passed, and now | 5 |
| The future of uncertain joy or wreck | |
| Can fright not Hope, the emperor of the deck, | |
| Who holds the helm, with Prudence at the prow. | |
| And yet to-night with Memory I stand, | |
| Like an unwilling passenger, and gaze | 10 |
| With heart-sick longings at my native land, | |
| And count the billows of long-vanished days, | |
| The fading path with spectral fires ablaze,— | |
| The Past’s dread history traced in God’s own hand. | | | | |
|
|
