| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | IV. The Ringlet | | By Charles Tennyson (1808–1879) |
| | (To ——.)
I HAVE a circlet of thy sunny hair, | |
| And ’t is, I wot, a blessing to mine eyes; | |
| For gentle, happy thoughts are sworn to rise, | |
| Whene’er I view it, softly folded there, | |
| Lifeless and listless, like a treasure’s key, | 5 |
| Unwitting of the dreams it doth compel | |
| Of gems and gold piled high in secret cell, | |
| Too royal for a vulgar gaze to see! | |
| If they were stolen, the key might never tell; | |
| If thou wert dead, what should the ringlet say? | 10 |
| It shows the same, betide thee ill or well, | |
| Smiling on earth, or shrouded in decay! | |
| And were cold winter with thee, Isabel, | |
| I might be smiling here on blossoms of thy May. | | | | |
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