Page:Elegiac Sonnets and Other Essays The Second Edition.pdf/21

[  7    ] SONNET VI. TO HOPE. H, Hope! thou soother sweet of human woe! How shall I lure thee to my haunts forlorn? For me wilt thou renew the wither'd rose,
 * And clear my painful path of pointed thorn?

Ah, come, sweet nymph! in smiles and softness drest,
 * Like the young hours that lead the tender year;

Enchantress, come! and charm my cares to rest;­--
 * Alas! the flatterer flies, and will not hear!--

A prey to fear, anxiety, and pain,
 * Must I a sad existence still deplore;

Lo! the flowers fade, but all the thorns remain,
 * 'For me the vernal garland blooms no more.'

Come then, '*pale Misery's love,' be thou my cure, And I will bless thee, who, tho' flow, art sure.
 * Shakespeare's King John. SONNET