| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | Objects Which Influence the Ambitious Nature
I. Trophies—How Planted | | By William Gilmore Simms (1806–1870) |
| | | THE TROPHIES which shine out for eager eyes, | |
| In youth’s first hour of progress, and delude | |
| With promise dearest to ambitious mood, | |
| Lie not within life’s limits, but arise | |
| Beyond the realm of sunset;—phantoms bright | 5 |
| Glowing above the tomb, having their roots | |
| Even in the worshipper’s heart;—from whence their fruits, | |
| And all that thence grows precious to man’s sight! | |
| Thence, too, their power to lure from beaten ways | |
| That Love hath set with flowers, and thence the spell, | 10 |
| ’Gainst which the blood denied may ne’er rebel, | |
| That leads to sleepless nights, and toilsome days, | |
| And sacrifice of all those human joys | |
| That to the ambitious nature seem but toys. | | | | |
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