WHAT first should consecrate as thine, The volume, destined to be fraught With many a sweet and playful line, With many a pure and pious thought? It should be, what a loftier strain Perchance less meetly would impart; What never yet was poured in vain, -- The blessing of the grateful heart -- For kindness, which hath soothed the hour Of anxious grief, of weary pain, And oft, with its beguiling power, Taught languid Hope to smile again. Long shall that fervent blessing rest On thee and thine, and heaven-wards borne, Call down such peace to soothe thy breast, As thou wouldst bear to all that mourn. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE STARLING; SONNET by AMY LOWELL TO A YOUNG BEAUTY by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS NOW AND AFTERWARDS by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK THE OL' TUNES by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A LITTLE DUTCH GARDEN by HARRIET WHITNEY DURBIN RECESSIONAL by RUDYARD KIPLING TO SCIENCE; SONNET by EDGAR ALLAN POE |