Penny Dreadfuls, 1812 · page 170 of 258
Psyche, and other poems — page 170: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Description This is a poetry page from what appears to be a Victorian-era printed text. The poem, titled "Written at Scarborough" and dated August 1799, is a reflective meditation on memory and the passage of time. The speaker, musing alone at home, hears the distant ocean and contemplates how life's sorrows and joys fade like waves erasing traces on the beach, leaving the speaker himself worn and exposed to each new storm. The verse uses maritime imagery to explore themes of impermanence and emotional erosion.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WRITTEN AT SCARBOROUGH. August, 1799. comes As musing pensive in my silent home I hear far off the sullen ocean’s roar, Where the rude wave just sweeps the level shore, Or bursts upon the rocks with whitening foam, i think upon the scenes my life has known ; On days of sorrow, and some hours of joy ; Both which alike time could so soon destroy ! And now they seem a busy dream alone ; While on the earth exists no single trace Of all that shook my agitated soul, As on the beach new waves forever roll And fill their past forgotten brother’s place : - But I, like the worn sand, exposed remain Te each new storm which frets the angry main. CORE DOO KSaCOmn)