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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THOUGHTS DURING SICKNESS: SABBATH SONNET; COMPOSED DAYS BEFORE DEATH by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS

Poet Analysis

First Line: HOW MANY BLESSED GROUPS THIS HOUR ARE BENDING
Last Line: TO ONE DEEP CALM OF LOWLIEST THANKFULNESS!
Subject(s): LANDSCAPE;

HOW many blessed groups this hour are bending,
Thro' England's primrose meadow-paths, their way
Towards spire and tower, 'midst shadowy elms ascending,
Whence the sweet chimes proclaim the hallowed day!
The halls from old heroic ages gray
Pour their fair children forth; and hamlets low,
With whose thick orchard-blooms the soft winds play,
Send out their inmates in a happy flow,
Like a freed vernal stream. I may not tread
With them those pathways -- to the feverish bed
Of sickness bound; yet, O my God! I bless
Thy mercy, that with Sabbath-peace hath filled
My chastened heart, and all its throbbings stilled
To one deep calm of lowliest thankfulness!



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