Sonnet VIII: Borrowed Foresight

And thou when in that selfsame mirror see.
Wouldst thou when there beholdest mee be pleased?
Thy fear of future or of past; would be
Thy curiosity of all appeased?

And wouldst thou see a life thou hoped to live?
Wouldst thou with eager pride regard thou mee?
And wouldst thou mine and thy mistakes forgive?
Wouldst thou behind me happiness foresee?

And if thou knew as intimate, my life,
Wouldst thou for greater happiness contrive?
And shouldst thou know how great had been my strife,
Wouldst thou with passion greater, passion strive?

Wouldst in this knowledge thou thy fortunes thrive?
Wouldst thou with borrowed foresight come alive?

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Sonnet VII: Reflected

When I, within the mirror, thee regard;
But not of thine, which shone in silvered glass;
Nay, this, that all the many years discard;
As though no year might ever for thee pass.

So fair, thy sherry coloured hair and eyes;
Thy perfect form I see, as straight and hard;
Thy smile, seeming beautiful and wise;
And strong thy limbs, by time are nary scared.

If thou couldst know what wonders thee await;
More wondrous than most any thou surmise;
If thou couldst only see thy pain abate;
And know how much of life this pain denies.

How few thy years; alas, how little wait;
My life surpast, when thou such things instate.

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Sonnet VI: If Only Knewest Thou

If thou aboundest not with glory, seek
Thou ever this; for if thy world is rife
With glory’s joy, shalt thou abound to speak;
And shalt abound with glory in thy life.

So joyous wouldst thou ever, if thy place
Should, once, thy glory sing; although oblique,
And ne’er regard thy lack of fame, disgrace,
As such; though  fame and glory are unique.

Devoid of one another, both exist.
Though righteous one, the former may debase,
Impossible, unbidden, to resist.
So seek must thou this blessing, to embrace

That strife will fail to find thee in its midst–
The knife that in thy glory, yearns to twist.

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Sonnet V: The Wraith

Trust thou in she who would thy spirit lift;
For holdeth she thy course as straight and right,
Whose destinations found, with thee, delight–
This Hallowed ground from which thou shalt not drift.

Trust thou in she who is thy greatest gift;
For thee, thy darkened course would keep alight;
Whose only longing keepeth both from night;
And help thee right such wrongs when waters shift.

Thou canst not man thy tiller and thy spar;
Nor keep the watch and also plot thy course;
Nor man the pumps below and trim thy sail.
For shalt thou, on thy circle, travel far–
Much farther than alone wilt thou, perforce–
Alone, couldst not rejoice thou to prevail.

This sonnet is part of a short sequence; click here to read it all:

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