Elegiac Sonnets, and Other Poems, Volume 2, The Second Edition/Sonnet XCII

by Charlotte Smith

SONNET XCII.

WRITTEN AT BIGNOR PARK IN SUSSEX, IN AUGUST, 1799.

LOW murmurs creep along the woody vale,
    The tremulous Aspens shudder in the breeze,
Slow o'er the downs the leaden vapours sail,
    While I, beneath these old paternal trees,
Mark the dark shadows of the threaten'd storm,
    As gathering clouds o'erveil the morning sun;
They pass!—But oh! ye visions bright and warm
    With which even here my sanguine youth begun,
Ye are obscured for ever!—And too late
    The poor Slave shakes the unworthy bonds away
    Which crush'd her!—Lo! the radiant star of day
Lights up this lovely scene anew—My fate
    Nor hope nor joy illumines—Nor for me
Return those rosy hours which here I used to see!