SUGGESTED BY SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE OBSERVING THAT WE NEVER DREAM OF OURSELVES YOUNGER THAN WE ARE. <br />Not in our dreams, not even in our dreams <br />Not in our dreams, not even in our dreams, <br />May we return to that sweet land of youth, <br />That home of hope, of innocence, and truth, <br />Which as we further roam but fairer seems. <br />In that dim shadowy world, where the soul strays <br />When she has laid her mortal charge to rest, <br />We oft behold far future hours and days, <br />But ne'er live o'er the past, the happiest. <br />How oft will fancy's wild imaginings <br />Bear us in sleep to times and worlds unseen, <br />But ah! not e'en unfettered fancy's wings <br />Can lead us back to aught that we have been, <br />Or waft us to that smiling, sunny shore, <br />Which e'en in slumber we may tread no more.<br /><br />Frances Anne Kemble<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-83/
