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Collected sonnets, old and new [ed. by H. Tennyson]. (1880)
Collected sonnets old and new - ed. by H. Tennyson - 1880 Author:Charles Turner Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: XVIL (Continued.) The bliss of Heaven, Maria, shall be thine ! Joy link'd to joy by amaranthine bond ! And a fair harp of many strings divine Shal... more »l meet thy touch with unimagined sound ! Meek angel-hood shall dwell within thine eye, Fed by the action of thy purer soul; Thy brow shall beam with fairer dignity— No more thy cheek shall blench with Care's control, Nor yield its hues to changes of the heart, That beats with plenitude of life and woe— Taking all dyes that sorrow can impart, Or ever-shifting circumstance bestow : The prey of present pangs or after-smart, For ever feeling pain or missing bliss below.1 1 ' I prefer this much to XVI., though both arc good.' — S.T.C. The whole of this is marked. XVIIL We cannot keep delight—we cannot tell One tale of steady bliss, unwarp'd, uncrost, The timid guest anticipates farewell, And will not stay to hear it from his host ! I saw a child upon a summer's day, A child upon the margin of a pond, Catch at the boughs that came within his way, From a fair fruit-tree on the bank beyond ; The gale that sway'd them from him aye arose, And seldom sank into such kindly calm As gave his hand upon the bunch to close ; Which then but left its fragrance on his palm ; For the wind woke anew from its repose, And bore the fruit away, but wafted all its balm.1 1 ' What sort of a fruit-tree could this have been? orange or Umon ? These have fragrant bunches—and ripe fnnt at the same time. But the boughs are sadly unf1t for swaying in ,1 brene.'—S.T.C. This sonnet was never republished. XIX. A CALM EVENING. Seest thou how clear and sharp the shadows are Among the cattle on yon ridgy field, So softly glooming amid light so fair ? Yon mighty ...« less