Poems (Southey)/Volume 1/Sonnet 3 (Not to thee, Bedford! mournful is the tale)
SONNET III.
Not to thee, Bedford! mournful is the tale Of days departed. Time in his career Arraigns not thee that the neglected year Has past unheeded onward. To the vale Of years thou journiest; may the future road Be pleasant as the past! and on my friend Friendship and Love, best blessings! still attend 'Till full of days he reach the calm abode Where Nature slumbers. Lovely is the age Of Virtue: with such reverence we behold The silver hairs, as some grey oak grown old That whilome mock'd the rushing tempest's rage, Now like the monument of strength decayedWith rarely-sprinkled leaves casting a trembling shade.1794.