Ode to Eloquence
HAIL! GODDESS of persuasive art! The magic of whose tuneful tongue Lulls to soft harmony the wand’ring heart With fascinating song; O, let me hear thy heav’n-taught strain, As thro’ my quiv’ring pulses steal
The Adieu to Love
LOVE, I renounce thy tyrant sway, I mock thy fascinating art, MINE, be the calm unruffled day, That brings no torment to the heart; The tranquil mind, the noiseless scene, Where FANCY, with enchanting
Ode on Adversity
WHERE o’er my head, the deaf’ning Tempest blew, And Night’s cold lamp cast forth a feeble ray; Where o’er the woodlands, vivid light’nings flew, Cleft the strong oak, and scorch’d the blossom’d spray; At
Lines on Hearing it Declared that No Women Were So Handsome as the English
BEAUTY, the attribute of Heaven! In various forms to mortals given, With magic skill enslaves mankind, As sportive fancy sways the mind. Search the wide world, go where you will, VARIETY pursues you still;
Sonnet XVII: Love Steals Unheeded
Love steals unheeded o’er the tranquil mind, As Summer breezes fan the sleeping main, Slow through each fibre creeps the subtle pain, ‘Till closely round the yielding bosom twin’d. Vain is the hope the
Sonnet V: O! How Can Love
O! How can LOVE exulting Reason queil! How fades each nobler passion from his gaze! E’en Fame, that cherishes the Poet’s lays, That fame, ill-fated Sappho lov’d so well. Lost is the wretch, who
Sonnet XXXIX: Prepare Your Wreaths
Prepare your wreaths, Aonian maids divine, To strew the tranquil bed where I shall sleep; In tears, the myrtle and the laurel steep, And let Erato’s hand the trophies twine. No parian marble, there,
Sonnet to My Beloved Daughter
WHEN FATE in ruthless rage assail’d my breast, And Heaven relentless seal’d the harsh decree; HOPE, placid soother of the mind distress’d; To calm my rending sorrowsÂgave me THEE. In all the charms of
Sonnet XLI: Yes, I Will Go
Yes, I will go, where circling whirlwinds rise, Where threat’ning clouds in sable grandeur lour; Where the blast yells, the liquid columns pour, And madd’ning billows combat with the skies! There, while the Daemon
Lines Written on the Sea-Coast
SWIFT o’er the bounding deep the VESSEL glides, Its streamers flutt’ring in the summer gales, The lofty mast the breezy air derides, As gaily o’er the glitt’ring surf she sails. Now beats each gallant
Sonnet XLIII: While From the Dizzy Precipice
While from the dizzy precipice I gaze, The world receding from my pensive eyes, High o’er my head the tyrant eagle flies, Cloth’d in the sinking sun’s transcendent blaze! The meek-ey’d moon, ‘midst clouds
Stanzas Inscribed to Lady William Russell
NATURE, to prove her heav’n-taught pow’r, That gems the earth, and paints the flow’r; That bids the soft enchanting note Steal from the LINNET’S downy throat; That from young MAY’S ambrosial wings, The balmy
Ode to the Moon
PALE GODDESS of the witching hour; Blest Contemplation’s placid friend; Oft in my solitary bow’r, I mark thy lucid beam From thy crystal car descend, Whitening the spangled heath, and limpid sapphire stream. And
Sonnet XXXIII: I Wake
I wake! delusive phantoms hence, away! Tempt not the weakness of a lover’s breast; The softest breeze can shake the halcyon’s nest, And lightest clouds o’ercast the dawning ray! ‘Twas but a vision! Now,
Sonnet XI: O! Reason!
O! Reason! vaunted Sovreign of the mind! Thou pompous vision with a sounding name! Can’st thou, the soul’s rebellious passions tame! Can’st thou in spells the vagrant fancy bind? Ah, no! capricious as the