Time! on whose arbitrary wing The varying hours must flag or fly, Whose tardy winter, fleeting spring, But drag or drive us on to die---
For then, however drear and dark, My soul was suited to thy sky; One star alone shot forth a spark To prove thee---not Eternity.
That beam hath sunk---and now thou art A blank---a thing to count and curse Through each dull tedious trifling part, Which all regret, yet all rehearse.
And I can smile to think how weak Thine efforts shortly shall be shown, When all the vengeance thou canst wreak Must fall upon---a nameless stone.