Time And Grief

William Lisle Bowles

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)
Stealest the long-forgotten pang away;
  On Thee I rest my only hope at last,
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 many a sorrow past,
And meet life’s peaceful evening with a smile—
  As some poor bird, at day’s departing hour,
  Sings in the sunbeam, of the transient shower
Forgetful, tho’ its wings are wet the while:—
  Yet ah! how much must that poor heart endure,
  Which hopes from thee, and thee alone, a cure!

Next 10 Poems

• William Lisle Bowles : To A Friend
• William Lisle Bowles : To The River Itchin, Near Winton
• William Lisle Bowles : To The River Tweed
• William Lisle Bowles : To The River Wenbeck
• William Lisle Bowles : V. To The River Tweed.
• William Lisle Bowles : Vi. Evening, As Slow Thy Placid Shades Descend...
• William Lisle Bowles : Vii. At A Village In Scotland....
• William Lisle Bowles : Written At A Convent
• William Lisle Bowles : Written At Bamborough Castle
• William Lisle Bowles : Written At Ostend

Previous 10 Poems

• William Lisle Bowles : Sonnet: O Poverty! Though From Thy Haggard Eye
• William Lisle Bowles : Sonnet: Languid, And Sad, And Slow, From Day To Day
• William Lisle Bowles : Sonnet: July 18th 1787
• William Lisle Bowles : Sonnet: At Ostend, July 22nd 1787
• William Lisle Bowles : Sonnet: At Dover Cliffs, July 20th 1787
• William Lisle Bowles : On The Funeral Of Charles The First At Night, In St. George's Chapel, Windsor
• William Lisle Bowles : On The Funeral Of Charles The First
• William Lisle Bowles : On Hearing
• William Lisle Bowles : On A Distant View Of England
• William Lisle Bowles : On A Beautiful Landscape