 | The poetical works of James Montgomery |  |
TO AGNES.
REPLY TO SOME LINES, BEGINNING, “ARREST, O TIME! THY FLEETING COURSE.”
Time will not check his eager flight,
Though gentle Agnes scold,
For 'tis the Sage's dear delight
To make young ladies old.
Though gentle Agnes scold,
For 'tis the Sage's dear delight
To make young ladies old.
Then listen, Agnes, friendship sings;
Seize fast his forelock grey,
And pluck from his careering wings
A feather every day.
Seize fast his forelock grey,
And pluck from his careering wings
A feather every day.
Adorn'd with these, defy his rage,
And bid him plough your face,
For every furrow of old age
Shall be a line of grace.
And bid him plough your face,
For every furrow of old age
Shall be a line of grace.
Start not;—old age is Virtue's prime;
Most lovely she appears,
Clad in the spoils of vanquish'd Time,
Down in the vale of years.
Most lovely she appears,
Clad in the spoils of vanquish'd Time,
Down in the vale of years.
Beyond that vale, in boundless bloom,
The eternal mountains rise;
Virtue descends not to the tomb,
Her rest is in the skies.
The eternal mountains rise;
Virtue descends not to the tomb,
Her rest is in the skies.
1804.
| The poetical works of James Montgomery | |