DEDICATORY SONNET.
TO ROBERT SOUTHEY, ESQ. POET-LAUREATE,
And Honorary Member of the Royal Spanish Academy.
To none of all the friends with whom kind heaven
Has blest my lot, more, Southey, than to thee
Can I ascribe the wish t'excite in me
A trust, that somewhat to my soul was given
Of power, which with due culture might have thriven.
My youthful feelings, vowed to poesy,
In thee a sponsor found who willingly
Didst promise that for which I had but striven.
Imperfect token of entire esteem,
A branch dissever'd from its parent root,
Now I present to thee: and may'st thou deem
That the plant bears in this its foreign shoot,
Withdrawn from Italy's more fervent beam,
In Britain, undeteriorated fruit.
CHARLES LLOYD.
Brathay, 13th October, 1814.
