A Petition to Time

Barry Cornwall

1787 to 1874

Poem Image

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!