| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | III. The Rainbow | | By Charles Tennyson (1808–1879) |
| | | HUNG on the shower that fronts the golden west, | |
| The rainbow bursts like magic on mine eyes, | |
| In hues of elden promise there imprest, | |
| Frail in its date, eternal in its guise. | |
| The vision is so lovely that I feel | 5 |
| My heart endued with beauty like its own, | |
| And taking an indissoluble seal | |
| From what is here a moment, and is gone. | |
| It lies so soft on the full-breasted storm, | |
| New born o’ the middle air, and dewy-pure, | 10 |
| And tricked in nature’s choicest garniture; | |
| What can be seen of lovelier dye or form? | |
| While all the groves assume a ghastly stain, | |
| Caught from the leaden rack and shining rain. | | | | |
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