Henry Kirke White (1785-1806). I. On Hearing the Sounds of an Aeolian Harp. Hunt and Lee, comps. 1867. The Book of the Sonnet

Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867.

I. On Hearing the Sounds of an Æolian Harp

By Henry Kirke White (1785–1806)


SO ravishingly soft upon the tide
Of the infuriate gust it did career,
It might have soothed its rugged charioteer,
And sunk him to a zephyr, then it died,
Melting in melody, and I descried,	5
Borne to some wizard stream, the form appear
Of Druid sage, who on the far-off ear
Poured his lone song, to which the surge replied;
Or thought I heard the hapless pilgrim’s knell,
Lost in some wild enchanted forest’s bounds,	10
By unseen beings sung; or are these sounds
Such as, ’t is said, at night are known to swell
By startled shepherd on the lonely heath,
Keeping his night-watch sad, portending death!