 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
265
TO F. G. H.
Wake, sleeping bard! too long bedimming rustHas rested on the chords of thy rich shell—
Wake, sleeping bard, and people mount and dell
With deathless beings of the mind!—from dust
The gifted men of olden time call up,
And speak to them when Night is on her throne,
Learning the secrets of a world unknown:
Oh! raise once more the bright, enchanted cup
Of romance to thy thirsting lip and drink,
And in the chain of inspiration be
A dazzling, proud, imperishable link:
Let thy rapt muse, emerging from thick gloom,
Fairer than Venus rising from the sea,
For epic flight her wing majestically plume.
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |