| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | IV. “Mary! I dare not call thy charms divine” | | By Henry Timrod (1828–1867) |
| | | MARY! I dare not call thy charms divine, | |
| But all the sweetest qualities of earth, | |
| Which constitute an humbler, holier worth, | |
| Grace, gayety, and gentleness are thine. | |
| A grace more glorious than the grace of form, | 5 |
| And moulding less thy motions than thy mind; | |
| A gayety not thoughtless or unkind,— | |
| Wild, and yet winning, womanly and warm; | |
| A gentleness of heart that is not weakness, | |
| Persuasive, potent, beautiful in meekness: | 10 |
| Only at times, in some excited hour, | |
| A flash that lights the darkness of thine eyes, | |
| Reveals a secret and a deeper power,— | |
| A spirit he has hardiness who tries. | | | | |
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