Sonnet XLIV
Rapt Contemplation, bring thy waking dreams
To this umbrageous vale at noon-tide hour,
While full of thee seems every bending flower,
Whose petals tremble o’er the shadow’d streams!
Give thou Honora’s image, when her beams,
Youth, beauty, kindness, shone;—what time she wore
That smile, of gentle, yet resistless power
To sooth each painful Passion’s wild extremes.
Here shall no empty, vain Intruder chase,
With idle converse, thy enchantment warm,
That brings, in all its interest, all its grace,
The dear, persuasive, visionary Form.
Can real Life a rival blessing boast
When thou canst thus restore Honora early lost?