Why should the tiny harp be chained to themes In fourteen lines with pedant rigor bound? The sonnet's might is mightier than it seems: Witness the bard of Eden lost and found, Who gave this lute a clarion's battle sound. And, lo! another Milton calmly turns His eyes within on light that ever burns, Waiting till Wordsworth's second peer be found! Meantime, Fitzadam's mournful music shows That the scorned sonnet's charm may yet endear Some long deep strain, or lay of well-told woes; Such as, in Byron's couplet, brings a tear To manly cheeks, or o'er his stanza throws Rapture and grief, solemnity and fear. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EARLY RISING by JOHN GODFREY SAXE ON A YOUNG BRIDE DROWNED IN THE BOSPHORUS by AGATHIAS SCHOLASTICUS SWORD AND BUCKLER; OR, SERVING-MAN'S DEFENCE by WILLIAM BASSE ON A JUNIPER-TREE, CUT DOWN TO MAKE BUSKS by APHRA BEHN THE FLOWERING FAGGOTS by WILLIAM ROSE BENET JOB 14. JOB'S ENTREATY by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE |