| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | III. June
3. “Alas! it may not be” | | By Mrs. Mary Noel McDonald |
| | Succession of Sonnets
ALAS! it may not be; I am forbid | |
| By a stern duty, and my feet must press, | |
| Day after day, in toil and weariness, | |
| The city’s streets; while in my heart is hid | |
| Strange, passionate yearnings for a brighter spot. | 5 |
| My childhood’s home is stealing on my sight; | |
| In native loveliness all unforgot, | |
| Fancy reveals it. Well I know the blight | |
| Of time has dimmed its beauty; yet to me | |
| It ever rises with the summer day, | 10 |
| Decked by thy hand in fair and fresh array; | |
| And on its verdant slopes I long to be | |
| A happy child, as careless and as gay, | |
| As erst in thy bright reign I laughed the hours away. | | | | |
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