| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | “Since Cleopatra died” | | By Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823–1911) |
| | | | “Since Cleopatra died, |
| I have lived in such dishonor that the world |
| Doth wonder at my baseness.” |
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“SINCE Cleopatra died!” Long years are past, | |
| In Antony’s fancy, since the deed was done. | |
| Love counts its epochs, not from sun to sun, | |
| But by the heart-throb. Mercilessly fast | |
| Time has swept onward since she looked her last | 5 |
| On life, a queen. For him the sands have run | |
| Whole ages through their glass, and kings have won | |
| And lost their empires o’er earth’s surface vast | |
| Since Cleopatra died. Ah! Love and Pain | |
| Make their own measure of all things that be. | 10 |
| No clock’s slow ticking marks their deathless strain; | |
| The life they own is not the life we see; | |
| Love’s single moment is eternity: | |
| Eternity, a thought in Shakspeare’s brain. | | | |
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