The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
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 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
93
SONNET VII
WORDSWORTH'S SONNETS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
O one grey dead leaf in a poet's wreath!
Is it this the sunlit mountains taught to thee,
This? When the moon above the impurpled lea
Soared, did her soft lips chant to thee of death?
O gentlest of all bards who e'er drew breath,
What were the whispers of the hollow sea?
What were the hints of bird and flower and tree
And stormy upland,—and of pathless heath?
Is it this the sunlit mountains taught to thee,
This? When the moon above the impurpled lea
Soared, did her soft lips chant to thee of death?
O gentlest of all bards who e'er drew breath,
What were the whispers of the hollow sea?
What were the hints of bird and flower and tree
And stormy upland,—and of pathless heath?
In this sole thing, O bard, thou hast been untrue
To thine own soul,—nor only unto this;
Untrue besides to Nature's kindly kiss
Upon thy lips,—faithless to mountains blue
And golden sunsets and the bright lakes' hue:
False to the whole world's higher sympathies.
To thine own soul,—nor only unto this;
Untrue besides to Nature's kindly kiss
Upon thy lips,—faithless to mountains blue
And golden sunsets and the bright lakes' hue:
False to the whole world's higher sympathies.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |