Fugitive Poetry. 1600–1878/Sonnet Written at Shakspeare's Tomb
Sonnet.
Written at the tomb of Shakspeare, Stratford-on-Avon.
A humble votary of the tuneful nine,
To Shakspeare's tomb a pilgrim I repair,
To yield the mind's deep adoration there,
And bow the knee at wisdom's proudest shrine!
Lo! where hath lingered, lost in wonder's maze,
The ken of princes, and the glance of peers—
Lo! where have paused, in reverential gaze,
The good and great of other climes and years—
Bend I, great shade! submissively to pay
The unfeigned homage of one grateful heart,
To whom thy magic pages doth portray
The boundless realms of nature and of art!
Allow this lowly tribute to the fame
Which shall to every age transmit thy honoured name
To Shakspeare's tomb a pilgrim I repair,
To yield the mind's deep adoration there,
And bow the knee at wisdom's proudest shrine!
Lo! where hath lingered, lost in wonder's maze,
The ken of princes, and the glance of peers—
Lo! where have paused, in reverential gaze,
The good and great of other climes and years—
Bend I, great shade! submissively to pay
The unfeigned homage of one grateful heart,
To whom thy magic pages doth portray
The boundless realms of nature and of art!
Allow this lowly tribute to the fame
Which shall to every age transmit thy honoured name