Thomas Hardy

V.R. 1819–1901

                              A Reverie
  
      The mightiest moments pass uncalendared,
          And when the Absolute
      In backward Time pronounced the deedful word
          Whereby all life is stirred:
  ‘Let one be born and throned whose mould shall constitute
  The norm of every royal-reckoned attribute,’
          No mortal knew or heard.
  
      But in due days the purposed Life outshone –
          Serene, sagacious, free;
      Her waxing seasons bloomed with deeds well done,
          And the world’s heart was won... 
  Yet may the deed of hers most bright in eyes to be
  Lie hid from ours – as in the All-One’s thought lay she –
          Till ripening years have run.
  
    Sunday Night,
    27 January 1901