 | The miscellaneous writings of Henry Ware |  |
319
TWO SONNETS OF TASK-WORK.
I. Hail our approach to venerable Rome
[_]
We arrived at Bolsena, between Florence and Rome, on a cool evening, December 11, 1829; and to help cheer the dismal hours in a huge, comfortless apartment, it was proposed to have a sonnet on our approach to the Eternal City. I called on the company for rhymes, à la mode improvisatrice; and having obtained them, I wrote the following:—
We go to kneel and wonder at her shrine,
To watch where still her parting glories shine,
And bear the memory of her greatness home.
There the late marvel of her sacred Dome
Doth with her hoary monuments combine,
Like ruined elm o'ertop'd by towering vine,
To stir the souls of those that thither roam.
There, 'mid her crumbling relics, we will stray
To tread her Forum in the noonday bright;
Her Colosseum under midnight skies,
And there, in grief, with silent gaze survey,
The world's chief glory fading from its height,
Till in the dust it sinks, and all ignobly dies.
320
II. Hark to the summons of departing Time
Hark to the summons of departing Time!Its echoes die upon the fading year;
Build up its requiem in some solemn rhyme,
And bring the final end of all things near.
The tide of being, rushing from afar,
Bears on the fortunes of the deathless soul;
Bright o'er its waters beams a holy star,
And heaven's blest island crowns the glorious whole.
Review the past of this all-varying scene;
Recount with gratitude its every joy;
How few the days unclouded and serene!
How mixed the happiest moments with alloy!
Yet from this mingled mass the soul may reap
The harvest gathered after death's long sleep.
| The miscellaneous writings of Henry Ware | |