| J. C. Squire, ed. A Book of Women’s Verse. 1921. | | | | Sonnet to Twilight | | By Helen Maria Williams (1762–1827) |
| | | MEEK Twilight! soften the declining day, | |
| And bring the hour my pensive spirit loves; | |
| When o’er the mountain slow descends the ray | |
| That gives to silence the deserted groves. | |
| Ah, let the happy court the morning still, | 5 |
| When, in her blooming loveliness array’d, | |
| She bids fresh beauty light the vale, or hill, | |
| And rapture warble in the vocal shade. | |
| Sweet is the odour of the morning’s flower, | |
| And rich in melody her accents rise; | 10 |
| Yet dearer to my soul the shadowy hour, | |
| At which her blossoms close, her music dies— | |
| For then, while languid nature droops her head, | |
| She wakes the tear ’tis luxury to shed. | | | | |
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