English poem
Sonnet XXXIX (I LOVE thee, mournful, sober-suited Night…)
by Charlotte Smith (1749–1806)
I LOVE thee, mournful, sober-suited Night! When the faint moon, yet lingering in her wane, And veil'd in clouds, with pale uncertain light Hangs o'er the waters of the restless main. In deep depression sunk, the enfeebled mind Will to the deaf cold elements complain, And tell the embosom'd grief, however vain, To sullen surges and the viewless wind. Tho' no repose on thy dark breast I find, I still enjoy thee—cheerless as thou art; For in thy quiet gloom the exhausted heart Is calm, tho' wretched; hopeless, yet resign'd. While to the winds and waves its sorrows given, May reach—tho' lost on earth—the ear of Heaven!
More by Charlotte Smith
- Sonnet XXXI (SPRING's dewy hand on this fair…)
- Sonnet XXXII (WHEN latest Autumn spreads her evening…)
- Sonnet XXXIII (GO, rural Naiad! wind thy stream…)
- Sonnet XXXIV (CHARM'D by thy suffrage, shall I…)
- Sonnet XXXV (NYMPH of the rock! whose dauntless…)
- Sonnet XXXVI (SHOULD the lone wanderer, fainting on…)
- Sonnet XXXVII (The poet's fancy takes from Flora's…)
- Sonnet XXXVIII (WHEN welcome slumber sets my spirit…)