Poem by Anna Seward

Sonnet 40. I love to rise ere gleams the tardy light

 DECEMBER MORNING.

I love to rise ere gleams the tardy light,
    Winter's pale dawn;—and as warm fires illume,
    And cheerful tapers shine around the room,
    Thro' misty windows bend my musing sight
Where, round the dusky lawn, the mansions white,
    With shutters clos'd, peer faintly thro' the gloom,
    That slow recedes; while yon grey spires assume,
    Rising from their dark pile, an added height
By indistinctness given.—Then to decree
    The grateful thoughts to God, ere they unfold
    To Friendship, or the Muse, or seek with glee
Wisdom's rich page!—O, hours! more worth than gold,
    By whose blest use we lengthen Life, and free
    From drear decays of Age, outlive the Old!

1. Sonnet 58. Not the slow Hearse, where nod the sable plumes
2. Sonnet 25. Fortunate Vale! exulting Hill! dear Plain!
3. Sonnet 53. The knell of Whitehead tolls!—his cares are past
4. Sonnet 52. Long has the pall of Midnight quench'd the scene
5. Sonnet 41. Since dark December shrouds the transient day

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