The lonely breast, yet rouse a mindful tear: 5 Wak'd by the Song doth Hope-born FANCY fling Rich showers of dewy fragrance from her wing, Till sickly PASSION'S drooping Myrtles sear Blossom anew! But O! more thrill'd, I prize Thy sadder strains, that bid in MEMORY'S Dream 10 The faded forms of past Delight arise; Then soft, on Love's pale cheek, the tearful gleam Of Pleasure smiles--as faint yet beauteous lies The imag'd Rainbow on a willowy stream. _January_ 14, 1795. FOOTNOTES: [87:1] First published in the _Morning Chronicle_, January 14, 1795. First collected, _P. and D. W._, 1877, i. 142. This sonnet was sent in a letter to Southey, dated December 17, 1794. _Letters of S. T. C._, 1895, i. 120. XI[87:2] TO RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN, ESQ. It was some Spirit, SHERIDAN! that breath'd O'er thy young mind such wildly-various power! My soul hath mark'd thee in her shaping hour, Thy temples with Hymettian[88:1] flow'rets wreath'd: And sweet thy voice, as when o'er LAURA'S bier 5 Sad Music trembled thro' Vauclusa's glade; Sweet, as at dawn the love-lorn Serenade That wafts soft dreams to SLUMBER'S listening ear. Now patriot Rage and Indignation high Swell the full tones! And now thine eye-beams dance 10 Meanings of Scorn and Wit's quaint revelry! Writhes inly from the bosom-probing glance The Apostate by the brainless rout ador'd, As erst that elder Fiend beneath great Michael's sword. _January_ 29, 1795. FOOTNOTES: [87:2] First published in the _Morning Chronicle_, January 29, 1795: included in 1796, 1803, 1828, 1829, and 1834. Two MS. versions are extant; one in a letter to Southey, dated December 9, 1794 (_Letters of S. T. C._, 1895, i. 118), and a second in the Estlin copy-book. In 1796 a note to line 4 was included in Notes, p. 179, and in 1797 and 1803 affixed as a footnote, p. 95:--'Hymettian Flowrets. Hymettus, a mountain near Athens, celebrated for its honey. This alludes to Mr. Sheridan's classical attainments, and the following four lines to the exquisite sweetness and almost _Italian_ delicacy of his poetry. In Shakespeare's _Lover's Complaint_ there is a fine stanza almost prophetically characteristic of Mr. Sheridan. So on the tip of his subduing tongue All kind of argument and question deep, All replication prompt and reason strong For his advantage still did wake and sleep, To make the weeper laugh, the laugher weep: He had the dialect and different skill Catching all passions in his craft of will; That he did in the general bosom reign Of young and old.' [88:1] Hymettus, a mountain of Attica famous for honey. _M. C._ LINENOTES: Title] To Sheridan MS. E: Effusion vi. 1796: Sonnet xi. 1803: Sonnet v. 1828, 1829, 1834. [1-5]