Sonnets and Fugitive Pieces :: :: University of Virginia Library

When Venus, late like wood-nymph drest
Departing breath'd diviner soul,
When downward flowed her gather'd vest,
And godhead o'er the huntress stole,
How lovely must the change have been!
How beautiful the shifting mien!

I would I had been there to see
That burst of nobler charms and higher,
Losing in prouder symmetry
The simple lineaments of Tyre,
Tho' but a moment she delay'd,
In glory of great beauty clad.

And stay, oh! stay, the hero cried,
As far—far off—the vision shot,
Why is thy conference denied,
Or granted, when I know thee not?
And thus, at last, to break the spell
But saddens more thy bright farewell!