 | Three Hundred Sonnets |  |
193
POETRY.
To touch the heart, and make its pulses thrill,To raise and purify the grovelling soul,
To warm with generous heat the selfish will,
To conquer passion with a mild control,
And the whole man with nobler thoughts to fill,
These are thine aims, O pure unearthly power,
These are thine influences; and therefore those
Whose wings are clogg'd with evil, are thy foes:
And therefore these, who have thee for their dower,
The widow'd spirits with no portion here,
Eat angels' food, the manna thou dost shower:
For thine are pleasures, deep, and tried, and true,
Whether to read, or write, or think, or hear,
Spurn'd by the million, fed on by the few.
| Three Hundred Sonnets | |