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Poems

Chiefly Written in Retirement, By John Thelwall; With Memoirs of the Life of the Author. Second Edition

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Amatory Sonnet.
  
  
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Amatory Sonnet.

[_]

(The Idea from a Line in Shakespear.)

“HIDE, oh! hide those hills of snow,”
O'er which those sunny smiles, in vain,
Dazzling shine, but ne'erbestow
Vital warmth, to cheer the swain.
With mysterious pangs they kill,
Burning from excess of chill.
Vail, Oh! vail those sunny smiles,
Which that bosom cannot melt:
Phosphor like, their chilly wiles
Kindle fires they never felt:

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Lights—that, in the northern skies,
Promise suns that never rise.
Yet those hills of breathing snow,
Yet those sunny smiles, so sweet!
Could they feel what they bestow,
Kindling touch of vital heat,
Lapland nights themselves would prove
All too short to tell my love.