 | The Sylphs of the Seasons, with other poems |  |
152
SONNET On Rembrant ; occasioned by his Picture of Jacob's Dream.
As in that twilight, superstitious ageWhen all beyond the narrow grasp of mind
Seem'd fraught with meanings of supernal kind,
When e'en the learned philosophick sage,
Wont with the stars thro' boundless space to range,
Listen'd with rev'rence to the changeling's tale;
E'en so, thou strangest of all beings strange!
E'en so thy visionary scenes I hail;
That like the rambling of an idiot's speech,
No image giving of a thing on earth,
Nor thought significant in Reason's reach,
Yet in their random shadowings give birth
To thoughts and things from other worlds that come,
And fill the soul, and strike the reason dumb.
| The Sylphs of the Seasons, with other poems | |