PALE disappointment! at thy freezing name <br />Chill fears in every shiv'ring vein I prove; <br />My sinking pulse almost forgets to move, <br />And life almost forsakes my languid frame. <br />Yet thee, relentless nymph! no more I blame: <br />Why do my thoughts 'midst vain illusions rove? <br />Why gild the charms of friendship and of love <br />With the warm glow of fancy's purple flame? <br />When ruffling winds have some bright fane o'erthrown, <br />Which shone on painted clouds, or seem'd to shine, <br />Shall the fond gazer dream for him alone <br />Those clouds were sable, and at fate repine?-- <br />I feel, alas! the fault is all my own, <br />And ah, the cruel punishment is mine!<br /><br />Helen Maria Williams<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-to-disappointment/
