quote · Legacy record
O Time! O Life! ye were not made For languid dreaming in the shade, Nor sinful hearts to moor all day By lily-isle, or grassy bay, Nor drink at noontide’s balmy hours Sweet opiates from the meadow-flowers. O give me grace, dear Lord! to win Thy pardon for my youthful sin, For all the days, in woods embowered, When currents of sweet thought o’erpowered With pleasant force the sense of duty, And gentle nature’s harmless beauty, Too much adored, gave birth to throngs Of joys effeminate, and songs Which sprung from earth, and, like a breeze, Died wantonly among the trees, Without a moral or a mirth Above the passing bliss of earth!
O Time! O Life! ye were not made For languid dreaming in the shade, Nor sinful hearts to moor all day By lily-isle, or grassy bay, Nor drink at noontide’s balmy hours Sweet opiates from the meadow-flowers. O give me grace, dear Lord! to win Thy pardon for my youthful sin, For all the days, in woods embowered, When currents of sweet thought o’erpowered With pleasant force the sense of duty, And gentle nature’s harmless beauty, Too much adored, gave birth to throngs Of joys effeminate, and songs Which sprung from earth, and, like a breeze, Died wantonly among the trees, Without a moral or a mirth Above the passing bliss of earth!
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Frederic W. Faber (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 426 · printed citation: Frederic W. Faber · subject: PARDON
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.