The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
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 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
237
SONNET V
“PALE TIME IS NOUGHT”
Pale time is nought. Through era on era pass
Our souls in forms enduring for awhile,
Wherein we laugh and weep, and groan and smile,
And struggle fresh experience to amass.
But this time . . . ah! this fateful time, alas,
We should have conquered hate and wrath and guile,
And risen for ever upward. From the Nile
Or Tiber's reeds to Thames' bright flowers and grass
Through life on life we have moved,—but now to-day,
God help me, dark foes bar us on our way,
Foes we have vanquished in the ages dead.
By strange chance aided, they spring forth again
And, with an agony of speechless pain,
I see them threaten thy gold peerless head.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |