When in the dreary hour of decline

[Sadstguy]

A sonnet.

When in the dreary hour of decline
I sit and think on life’s untrodden ways,
And how they left, bereft of their sublime,
My sum of waking hours and all days;
When fond remembrances shall cease to bear
The yoke of blissful sleep, and every dream
Reveal thy comely countenance: I fear
The end of night, and dawn’s dispelling beam.
Thus like a weeping willow I becloud
My soul with tears. Yet do I tend a space
Where even silence seems too like a shroud
Of woe—And wistfully I lift my gaze
Above the emerald boughs, where skylarks play
In warbled rhymes, entreating me to stay.

heh...your first few lines of rumination remind me of When I have Fears that I may Cease to Be by Keats. 

Excellent sonnet.  I like the alliteration, imagery, internal rhymes, well-structured enjambment...and your innovative twist on Shakespearean sonnet, with the ebeb ff ending (instead of efef gg).

I'm curious how long this took to craft.  I see many "sonnets" cranked out...yet it always takes me considerable time to craft one (not that I could ever reach this level!).  Not only the skylarks, but I also entreat you to stay...and create more pieces of beauty!

Thank you.

--S