III Written at Scarborough Aug
III
Written at
Scarborough
Augt 1799 [1]
As musing pensive in my silent home
I hear far off the sullen ocean's roar,
Where the rude wave just sweeps the level shore,
Or bursts upon the rocks with whitening foam;
I think upon the scenes my life has known,5
On days of sorrow, and some hours of joy,
Both which alike time could so soon destroy!
And now they seem a busy dream alone,
While on the earth exists no single trace
Of all that shook my agitated soul;10
As on the beach new waves for ever roll,
And fill their past forgotten brother's place;
But I, like the worn sand expos'd remain
To each new storm which frets the angry main.
Notes
[1] EDITOR'S NOTE: "Written at Scarborough Augt 1799" is printed in Psyche, with Other Poems (dated August, 1799) and Mary (dated August 1796). A letter from Tighe to her mother situates the Tighes in Scarborough on July 24, 1796 (PRONI MS D/2685), but they may have gone several times. The illustration depicts the ruins of Scarborough Castle on the rocky promontory overlooking the harbor. BACK
