 | My Sonnets |  |
[Envy their eyes to sightless blindness sears]
Envy their eyes to sightless blindness sears,When peaceful greatness among men is seen;
So is it now—so has it ever been.
Strange, a man may, from human hate and fears,
Hew out a name, which, when his fellow hears,
He shall, at once, hail glorious,—shall screen
From blighting calumny, and strive still green,
Unwithering, to keep, although the tears
Start to a thousand dull, dim, aged, eyes,
As their old ears the deeds he did drink in,
While each, in vain, from the deep sorrow tries
To wean him that the childless feel. They win
Men's ungrudged plaudits, whose false glory dies:
Slander waits those whose fame through ages still shall rise.
November 17th, 1842.
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