“I co'd reherse
A lyric verse.”—_The Hesperides._
A lyric verse I'll make for you,
Fair damsel that the many woo,
'Twill be a sonnet on your fan—
That aid to love from quaint Japan—
And “true” will rhyme with “eyes of blue.”
Ah! me, if you but only knew
The toil of setting out to hew
From words—as I shall try to do—
A lyric verse.
Fleet metric ghosts I must pursue,
And dim rhyme apparitions, too—
But yet, 'tis joyfully I scan,
And reckon rhymes and think and plan
For there's no cheaper present than
A lyric verse.