 | A Wreath of Wild Flowers From New England |  |
269
LINES ON PERUSING THE DRAMATIC WORKS OF JAMES SHERIDAN KNOWLES.
He sports with a sentiment rich and rare,
As the subtle Jew with a diamond plays,
In the sunny light of his Fancy fair,
He shifts his treasure a thousand ways:
And the princely gem as swift it turns,
With a lovelier glory beams and burns.
As the subtle Jew with a diamond plays,
In the sunny light of his Fancy fair,
He shifts his treasure a thousand ways:
And the princely gem as swift it turns,
With a lovelier glory beams and burns.
The sun-beam searches the Diamond's heart,
What wealth of beauty illumed is seen!
Its gorgeous colours like lightning dart,
As if Iris were veiled in its dazzling sheen,
And fluttered her pinions of rainbow-light,
In pride at a prison so pure and bright.
What wealth of beauty illumed is seen!
Its gorgeous colours like lightning dart,
As if Iris were veiled in its dazzling sheen,
And fluttered her pinions of rainbow-light,
In pride at a prison so pure and bright.
Oh! the selfsame gem in an idler's mind,
With a taste and skill less rare than his,
Would lie as changeless and undefined,
As the Diamond dim in the shadow is,
And none would dream of the sparkling play
Of those plumes within, that folded lay!
With a taste and skill less rare than his,
Would lie as changeless and undefined,
As the Diamond dim in the shadow is,
And none would dream of the sparkling play
Of those plumes within, that folded lay!
| A Wreath of Wild Flowers From New England | |