| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | III. To Time | | By William Lisle Bowles (1762–1850) |
| | | O TIME! who know’st a lenient hand to lay | |
| Softest on sorrow’s wound, and slowly thence | |
| (Lulling to sad repose the weary sense) | |
| The faint pang stealest, unperceived, away; | |
| On thee I rest my only hope at last, | 5 |
| And think when thou hast dried the bitter tear | |
| That flows in vain o’er all my soul held dear, | |
| I may look back on every sorrow past, | |
| And meet life’s peaceful evening with a smile. | |
| As some lone bird, at day’s departing hour, | 10 |
| Sings in the sunbeam, of the transient shower | |
| Forgetful, though its wings are wet the while: | |
| Yet, ah! how much must that poor heart endure | |
| Which hopes from thee, and thee alone, a cure! | | | | |
|
|
