| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | VIII. The Merchant | | By Sir John Hanmer (1809–1881) |
| | | NAKED wast thou, at thy birth-time, utterly, | |
| Merchant whose sails are furled; and now the birds | |
| Build under thy broad cornices, and the herds | |
| Sleep in the shadow of thy planted tree; | |
| The waves have borne thee onward; thou mayst see | 5 |
| The stars in new perspective; the full thirds | |
| Of thy great wealth no more are inky words, | |
| Paper and trust, but woods and swelling lea. | |
| Then wilt thou keep the balance in thine house, | |
| Emblem of just seigniory, and the cause? | 10 |
| Or with those harlequin heralds poorly feign? | |
| Keep it; for noble citizenship thus, | |
| And truth, the fountain that doth never pause, | |
| Free from the weeds of folly thou wilt maintain. | | | | |
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