| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | Sonnets to Winter
III. Old Books to Read | | By John R. Thompson (1823–1873) |
| | | REACH from their dusty places of repose | |
| A Virgil’s lay or “Livy’s pictured page,” | |
| The varied lore of an Augustan age,— | |
| What visions panoramic they disclose! | |
| With o’er-attentive faculties we hear | 5 |
| The wandering minstrelsy of Scio’s bard,— | |
| Poor houseless tenant of a life ill-starred,— | |
| Or catch the minster-music of the seer | |
| Chanting of Paradise “and all our woe.” | |
| Then, with the Christian pilgrim for our guide, | 10 |
| We safely pass the dark and bridgeless tide | |
| To Beulah’s land, where flowerets ever blow, | |
| Of Shakespeare’s heroes trace the storied line, | |
| Or weigh the mercies of the Book divine! | | | | |
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