Poems; original and translated by Charles Rann Kennedy ... and Two Poems by the Rev. Rann Kennedy. New Edition. By Charles Rann Kennedy |
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THE LATE DR. SAMUEL WARNEFORD. |
 | Poems; original and translated |  |
89
THE LATE DR. SAMUEL WARNEFORD.
[_]
The munificent benefactions of this gentleman are well known to his countrymen. For many years he devoted a large part of his income to public charities. The present Sonnet was first published in 1850, when Dr. Warneford had lost the use of his limbs.
In this sojourn of transitory woe
Imaginations holy, thoughts that glow
With earnest love sublime, thine hours employ.
Thou buildest up what time shall ne'er destroy:
While hearts of myriads, who thy goodness know,
With grateful benedictions overflow,
True faith is thine, and hopes without alloy.
No earthly triumphs can compare with these:
The guerdon of the righteous who can tell?
What angel forms, what influences cheer
Thine afternoon of life? Upon thine ear
Methinks already strains of rapture swell,
The prelude of celestial harmonies.
| Poems; original and translated | |