ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS

IN SERIES, 1821-22. PART II.

XXVII. IMAGINATIVE REGRETS

          DEEP is the lamentation! Not alone
          From Sages justly honoured by mankind;
          But from the ghostly tenants of the wind,
          Demons and Spirits, many a dolorous groan
          Issues for that dominion overthrown:
          Proud Tiber grieves, and far-off Ganges, blind
          As his own worshippers: and Nile, reclined
          Upon his monstrous urn, the farewell moan
          Renews. Through every forest, cave, and den,
          Where frauds were hatched of old, hath sorrow past--        10
          Hangs o'er the Arabian Prophet's native Waste,
          Where once his airy helpers schemed and planned
          'Mid spectral lakes bemocking thirsty men,
          And stalking pillars built of fiery sand.