Had I the choice to emulate the verse Of poets stately, beautiful, sublime; Could I be Homer's equal, to rehearse The wars and warriors of heroic time, Hector, Achilles, Ajax; had I art The woe-entangled Hamlet to declare, Or unfold Lear's, Othello's, inmost heart, Or sing as Tennyson of ladies fair; -- Metre and wit the best, and minstrel fingers, And choice conceit to wield in perfect rhyme, Delight of singers: -- These, these, O sea, all these I gladly gave, Would you the undulation of one wave, Its trick to me transfer, its sigh, its prayer, Or breathe one breath of yours upon my verse And leave its odor there. |