Henry Alford

Sonnet IV. "Out, palsied soul, that dost but tremble ever"

Out, palsied soul, that dost but tremble ever In sight of the bright sunshine;--mine be joy, And the full heart, and eye that faileth never In the glad morning:--I am yet a boy;-- I have not wandered from the crystal river That flowed by me in childhood: my employ Hath been to take the gift and praise the Giver; To love the flowers thy heedless steps destroy. I wonder if the bliss that flows to me In youth, shall be exhaled and scorched up dry By the noonday glare of life; I must not lie For ever in the shade of childhood's tree; But I must venture forth and make advance Along the toilèd path of human circumstance.