"Birtha" (fl. 1791)

"In an anonymous volume, American Poems Selected and Original, Vol. I, Litchfield, Conn., 1793, appears (p. 249) a very respectable sonnet signed "Birtha, May 25th, 1791," together with the note that the sonnet was reprinted from The Gazette of the United States." (Sterner)

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Sonnet

The Lord of light has journey'd down the sky,
And bath'd his coursers in the foaming wave;
The twinkling star of Even, too, hastes to lave
Her silver form, and vanish from my eye.
Now dusky twilight flings her sombre shade,
O'er the bright beauties of teh silent vale;
The aspen trembles not, the verdant blade
No longer nodding answers to the gale.
Come sweet Reflection! hither pensive maid
Direct thy wandering steps, and on this stone,
Worn by no traveller's feet, with moss o'ergrown,
Repose with me in solitude's deep shade.
Then shall I know the height of human bliss,
And taste the joy of other worlds in this.

(Text from The Sonnet in American Literature.)