Departing thence, to York their way they bent, While the glad people flowers before them strewed, And then King Elidure with full consent Of all his peers, before the multitude Upon his brother's head he placed the crown, Relinquished by his own; Triumph of justice, and affection pure, Whence he the title gained of "pious Elidure." The people answered with a loud acclaim, Through admiration of the heroic deed. The reinstated Artegal became Earth's noblest penitent; from bondage freed Of vice, henceforth unable to control The motions of his soul. {And when he died, the worthy and the brave } {Shed tears of fond regret upon his honoured grave.} {Long did he reign: and, when he died, the tear } {Of fond regret was shed upon his honoured bier. } Thus was a Brother by a Brother saved. With whom a crown (temptation that hath set Discord in hearts of men till they have braved Their nearest kin in deadly battle met), With duty weighed, and faithful love did seem A thing of no esteem; And from this triumph of affection pure, He won the lasting name of "pious Elidure." ] TO B. R. HAYDON Composed December 1815.--Published March 31, 1816. One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets." The title "Esq." was appended to the name in the editions of 1820 to 1832.--ED. High is our calling, Friend!--Creative Art (Whether the instrument of words she use, Or pencil pregnant with ethereal hues) Demands the service of a mind and heart, Though sensitive, yet, in their weakest part, 5 Heroically fashioned--to infuse Faith in the whispers of the lonely Muse, While the whole world seems adverse to desert. And, oh! when Nature sinks, as oft she may Through long-lived pressure of obscure distress, 10 Still to be strenuous for the bright reward, And in the soul admit of no decay, Brook no continuance of weak-mindedness-- Great is the glory, for the strife is hard! This sonnet was first published in _The Examiner_ (March 31, 1816). It was composed in December 1815. On November 27, Haydon wrote to Wordsworth: "I have benefited, and have been supported in the troubles of life by your poetry. I will bear want, pain, misery, and blindness, but I will never yield one step I have gained on the road I am determined to travel over." (See his _Correspondence and Table Talk_, vol. ii. pp. 19, 20.) To this Wordsworth replied in the following letter which is explanatory of the above sonnet, and of the two sonnets that follow it. "RYDAL MOUNT, near AMBLESIDE, _December 21st, 1815_. * * * * * "Now for the poems, which are sonnets: one composed the evening I received your letter; the other the next day; and the third the day following. I shall not transcribe them in the order in which they were written, but inversely.