TO TIME
TIME! men have chidden thee with deep-breathed curse
And challenged thee as Love's relentless foe,
Time! at thy feet I lay my humble verse,
For thou hast ever helped true love to grow.
Fancies, like butterflies, 'neath the first frost
Fall lifeless at the fading flower's feet,
But Love loves on unheeding pain and cost
And clasps the thorns where roses once were sweet.
Ah! blest be pain and cost, since but the more
Through them doth Love increase to meet Love's need
Till thou, O Time! throw wide that garden's door
Wherein, Death-sown, blooms Love's undying seed.
