| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | II. To Wordsworth | | By Thomas Buchanan Read (1822–1872) |
| | | THY rise was as the morning, glorious, bright! | |
| And Error vanished like the affrighted dark; | |
| While many a soul, as the aspiring lark, | |
| Waked by thy dawn soared singing to the light, | |
| Drowning in gladdest song the earth’s despite! | 5 |
| And Beauty blossomed in all lowly nooks: | |
| Love, like a river made of nameless brooks, | |
| Grew and exulted in thy wakening sight: | |
| All nature hailed thee as a risen sun; | |
| Nor will thy setting blur her thankful eyes! | 10 |
| While earth remains thy day shall not be done, | |
| Nor cloud dispread to blot thy matchless skies;— | |
| When Death’s command, like Joshua’s, shall arise, | |
| Thou ’lt stand as stood the Sun of Gibeon. | | | | |
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