Elegiac Sonnets, and Other Poems, Volume 1, The Ninth Edition/Sonnet XXXV

by Charlotte Smith

SONNET XXXV.

TO FORTITUDE.

NYMPH of the rock! whose dauntless spirit braves
    The beating storm, and bitter winds that howl
Round thy cold breast; and hear'st the bursting waves
    And the deep thunder with unshaken soul;
Oh come!—and show how vain the cares that press
    On my weak bosom—and how little worth
Is the false fleeting meteor, Happiness,
    That still misleads the wanderers of the earth!
Strengthen'd by thee, this heart shall cease to melt
    O'er ills that poor Humanity must bear;
Nor friends estranged, or ties dissolved be felt
    To leave regret, and fruitless anguish there:
And when at length it heaves its latest sigh,
Thou and mild Hope shall teach me how to die!