A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields/Sonnet (Paul Scarron)
SONNET.
Sublime memorials of human pride,
Pyramids and tombs, of which the structures vast
Witness that Art in glorious ages past
With Nature for the mastery boldly vied;
Old ruined palaces where the Roman tried
His utmost genius, that his work might last;
Coliseum where to lions men were cast
And gladiators bravely fought and died;
Proud monuments all of every age and clime,
Ye are demolished, or are crumbling down
Under the look of the destroyer, Time.
Should I then murmur that beneath his frown
After two years, well measured, chime by chime,
Out at the elbows is my dressing gown?