| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | II. A Grave in a Convent | | By William Lisle Bowles (1762–1850) |
| | | IF chance some pensive stranger, hither led | |
| (His bosom glowing from majestic views, | |
| The gorgeous dome, or the proud landscape’s hues) | |
| Should ask who sleeps beneath this lowly bed,— | |
| ’T is poor Matilda!—To the cloistered scene, | 5 |
| A mourner, beauteous and unknown, she came, | |
| To shed her tears unmarked, and quench the flame | |
| Of fruitless love: yet was her look serene | |
| As the pale moonlight in the midnight aisle; | |
| Her voice was soft, which yet a charm could lend, | 10 |
| Like that which spoke of a departed friend, | |
| And a meek sadness sat upon her smile!— | |
| Now, far removed from every earthly ill, | |
| Her woes are buried, and her heart is still. | | | | |
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