Elegiac Sonnet, by Charlotte Smith

No more shall mead and grove respond to thee
In faintest whispers caught on gentle sighs;
Nor shall the rabbit move so silently
At morning’s light as not to realize
The fears that fill my heart, where beauty’s bound,
Yet distant dreams remain unknown to me.
When lost in man’s illusive, fickle ground,
Forever echoes lost to night shall be.

Oh, mighty winds that sweep me further still,
In fields where day has lost its golden refrains;
Within this endless garden deep, I will
Recall your love that joins my lingering pains.
So soft the touch of dusk upon my brow,
Such glimmered, tender memories, here now.

• Charlotte Smith