Time Long Past

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Like the ghost of a dear friend dead 
Is Time long past. 
A tone which is now forever fled, 
A hope which is now forever past, 
A love so sweet it could not last, 
Was Time long past. 

There were sweet dreams in the night 
Of Time long past: 
And, was it sadness or delight, 
Each day a shadow onward cast 
Which made us wish it yet might last— 
That Time long past. 

There is regret, almost remorse, 
For Time long past. 
’Tis like a child’s beloved corse 
A father watches, till at last 
Beauty is like remembrance, cast 
From Time long past.