Synopsis

If I could battle with Time to-night, And conquer and fetter that foeman dread ; Naming as ransom, the victor's right, Some years he holds in the land of the dead ; Love, tell me which would the soonest pay The debt we claim from a vanquished foe : Which of the jewels he has stolen away Shall we take from the robber who spoils us so ? For me, if the choice were mine, not those Of childhood, though happiest deemed when age Looks sadly back, as Life's chapters close. To a bright tale told on an early page — Reading the pleasure, perchance, too clear Through faded grief; yet, I know the twain May lie in the heart of a child as near