Sixty-Five Sonnets With Prefatory Remarks on the Accordance of the Sonnet with the Powers of the English Language: Also, A Few Miscellaneous Poems [by Thomas Doubleday] |
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EPISTLE TO---. |
 | Sixty-Five Sonnets |  |
120
EPISTLE TO---.
Though the deep snows are lying unthaw'd,
And the chill blasts forbid us to roam,
The season allures me abroad,
Since it tells me my friend is at home.
And the chill blasts forbid us to roam,
The season allures me abroad,
Since it tells me my friend is at home.
Then my limbs I will warmly enfold,
And come forth, be the skies e'er so fell;
Applauding the climate, though cold,
Where friendship can flourish so well!
And come forth, be the skies e'er so fell;
Applauding the climate, though cold,
Where friendship can flourish so well!
Let thy hearth show a genial flame,
Let thy wine sparkle bright as thy glee,
And my comrade, in all but the name,
Thy cottage a palace shall be!
Let thy wine sparkle bright as thy glee,
And my comrade, in all but the name,
Thy cottage a palace shall be!
121
Nay, when Fancy is high in her fit,
We'll scorn e'en a king on his throne,
Like gods on Olympus we'll sit,
And reign in a heav'n of our own!
We'll scorn e'en a king on his throne,
Like gods on Olympus we'll sit,
And reign in a heav'n of our own!
For what in this life shall compare
(And surely this life hath its flow'rs),
When Bacchus, the curer of care,
Looks down upon friendship like ours?
(And surely this life hath its flow'rs),
When Bacchus, the curer of care,
Looks down upon friendship like ours?
The worldly man's wine may be rare,
But what's wine if th' enlivening part,
If the relish, my friend, be not there,
The relish that springs from the heart;
But what's wine if th' enlivening part,
If the relish, my friend, be not there,
The relish that springs from the heart;
For the joys of the palate and eye,
Proud luxury trebly refined,
All that power, all that riches can buy,
Must yield to the feast of the mind;
Proud luxury trebly refined,
All that power, all that riches can buy,
Must yield to the feast of the mind;
122
And heav'n, if my prayer thou wilt bless,
May I never be destined to stay,
Where to hollow and cold politesse
True friendship is frittered away;
May I never be destined to stay,
Where to hollow and cold politesse
True friendship is frittered away;
Where Freedom his forehead must shade
In the hood of Hypocrisy drest;
Where aught by the tongue may be said,
But the truth that's approved by the breast.
In the hood of Hypocrisy drest;
Where aught by the tongue may be said,
But the truth that's approved by the breast.
Yes! my days may with anguish be fill'd,
Yet may thrice treble vengeance be hurl'd,
If I envy the soul that is chill'd
By that numbing torpedo, the world.
Yet may thrice treble vengeance be hurl'd,
If I envy the soul that is chill'd
By that numbing torpedo, the world.
But poesy, best gift of all!
That human enlink'st with divine!
I would give this terrestrial ball
That one spark of thy spirit were mine!
That human enlink'st with divine!
I would give this terrestrial ball
That one spark of thy spirit were mine!
123
Then, my friend, let us call up each scene
Ennobled by poesy's strain,
Where the sports of our childhood have been,
Where the sports of our manhood remain.
Ennobled by poesy's strain,
Where the sports of our childhood have been,
Where the sports of our manhood remain.
The hours when delight was in bloom,
The moments when ecstasy shone,
And picture the days still to come
By the brightest of those that are gone!
The moments when ecstasy shone,
And picture the days still to come
By the brightest of those that are gone!
We'll toast the warm hearts that are here
In friendship's invincible corps,
We'll memorize but with a tear
The long lost companions of yore.
In friendship's invincible corps,
We'll memorize but with a tear
The long lost companions of yore.
We'll drink to our damsels of old,
We'll drink to our girls in their prime,
To the fires of the past that are cold,
To the loves yet unsullied by time.
We'll drink to our girls in their prime,
To the fires of the past that are cold,
To the loves yet unsullied by time.
124
Nor need we, my friend, be dismay'd,
Though Plutus his smile should refuse,
While still we can call to our aid
And Friendship, and Love, and the Muse;
Though Plutus his smile should refuse,
While still we can call to our aid
And Friendship, and Love, and the Muse;
But, with juice of enspiritment rare,
And with these our repast to control,
We'll drown the foul harpies of care,
And wash off their stains from the soul.
And with these our repast to control,
We'll drown the foul harpies of care,
And wash off their stains from the soul.
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