SONNET XLIV.

Rapt CONTEMPLATION, bring thy waking dreams

To this umbrageous vale at noon-tide hour,

While full of _thee_ seems every bending flower,

Whose petals tremble o'er the shadow'd streams!

Give thou HONORA's image, when her beams,

Youth, beauty, kindness, shone;--what time she wore

That smile, of gentle, yet resistless power

To sooth each painful Passion's wild extremes.

Here shall no empty, vain Intruder chase,

With idle converse, thy enchantment warm,

That brings, in all its interest, all its grace,

The dear, persuasive, visionary Form.

Can real Life a rival blessing boast

When thou canst thus restore HONORA early lost?

Original sonnets on various subjects; and odes paraphrased from Horace · 第 73 / 228 题