Contents -Volume INDEX -AUTHOR INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889

Sonnet

By James Gates Percival (1795–1856)

IF on the clustering curls of thy dark hair,

And the pure arching of thy polished brow,

We only gaze, we fondly dream that thou

Art one of those bright ministers who bear,

Along the cloudless bosom of the air,

Sweet, solemn words, to which our spirits bow,

With such a holy smile thou lookest now,

And art so soft and delicately fair.

A veil of tender light is mantling o’er thee;

Around thy opening lips young loves are playing;

And crowds of youths, in passionate thought delaying,

Pause, as thou movest by them, to adore thee;

By many a sudden blush and tear betraying

How the heart trembles, when it bends before thee.