| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | II. Wheathamstead | | By George James De Wilde |
| | | TO thy fresh slopes and hazel-shadowed lanes, | |
| And sedgy river with its deep green nooks, | |
| Where sits the watching hen, and skyward looks | |
| The water-lily;—to thy breezy plains | |
| And village homes, long years gone by I came, | 5 |
| Lured by the magic of a mighty name, | |
| A glad enthusiast. I come once more,— | |
| Not with the exulting heart which then I bore, | |
| But with a heavy memory that never | |
| Shall fail to shadow what bright hour soever,— | 10 |
| To find thee still as lovely as of yore, | |
| And feel the poet’s truth is written here,— | |
| “A thing of beauty is a joy forever”; | |
| Hearty and homely, loving Hertfordshire. 1 | |
| | | Note 1. See Charles Lamb’s exquisite paper in the “Essays of Elia,” entitled “Mackery End, in Hertfordshire.” [back] | | |
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