A Petition to Time

TOUCH us gently, Time!

   Let us glide adown thy stream

Gently -- as we sometimes glide

   Through a quiet dream!

Humble voyagers are we,

Husband, wife, and children three --

(One is lost -- an angel, fled

To the azure overhead!)

Touch us gently, Time!

   We've not proud nor soaring wings;

Our ambition, our content,

   Lies in simple things.

Humble voyagers are we,

O'er life's dim unsounded sea,

Seeking only some calm clime;

Touch us gently, gentle Time!

Barry Cornwall (Bryan Waller Procter)

Index to poems in the collection by Barry Cornwall