| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | IV. To A. C. L. | | By James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) |
| | | THROUGH suffering and sorrow thou hast passed | |
| To show us what a woman true may be: | |
| They have not taken sympathy from thee, | |
| Nor made thee any other than thou wast, | |
| Save as some tree, which in a sudden blast | 5 |
| Sheddeth those blossoms that are weakly grown | |
| Upon the air, but keepeth every one | |
| Whose strength gives warrant of good fruit at last: | |
| So thou hast shed some blooms of gayety, | |
| But never one of steadfast cheerfulness; | 10 |
| Nor hath thy knowledge of adversity | |
| Robbed thee of any faith in happiness, | |
| But rather cleared thine inner eyes to see | |
| How many simple ways there are to bless! | | | | |
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