| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | I. The Water-Mill | | By George James De Wilde |
| | | THERE;—it may serve perhaps some future day, | |
| Dull though the pencil be, and duller he | |
| Who guides it, to recall to memory | |
| The exquisite beauties of this rural way, | |
| Tempting the hurried traveller to delay:— | 5 |
| The mill down in the dell; the huge beech-tree | |
| Flinging its great black arms protectingly | |
| Over the useful stream, with one hot ray | |
| From Autumn’s cloudless sky touched, like a star; | |
| The feathery greenery sheltering everywhere; | 10 |
| The one bright strip of greensward seen afar | |
| Between the mossy trunks.—May never care | |
| Come to the Mill, its clattering glee to mar, | |
| Making all foul within, while all around is fair. | | | | |
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