The Poet's Song to his Wife

HOW many summers, love,

   Have I been thine?

How many days, thou dove,

   Hast thou been mine?

Time, like the wingèd wind

   When 't bends the flowers,

Hath left no mark behind,

   To count the hours!

Some weight of thought, though loath,

   On thee he leaves;

Some lines of care round both

   Perhaps he weaves;

Some fears, -- a soft regret

   For joys scarce known;

Sweet looks we half forget; --

   All else is flown!

Ah! -- with what thankless heart

   I mourn and sing!

Look, where our children start,

   Like sudden spring!

With tongues all sweet and low

   Like pleasant rhyme,

They tell how much I owe

   To thee and time!

Barry Cornwall (Bryan Waller Procter)

Index to poems in the collection by Barry Cornwall