| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | IV. Beatrice | | By Thomas Buchanan Read (1822–1872) |
| | | THOUGH others know thee by a fonder name, | |
| I, in my heart, have christened thee anew; | |
| And though thy beauty in its native hue, | |
| Shedding the radiance of whence it came, | |
| May not bequeath to language its high claim, | 5 |
| Thy smiling presence, like an angel’s wing, | |
| Fans all my soul of poesy to flame, | |
| Till even in remembering I must sing. | |
| Such led the grand old Tuscan’s longing eyes | |
| Through all the crystal rounds of Paradise; | 10 |
| And, in my spirit’s farthest journeying, | |
| Thy smile of courage leads me up the skies, | |
| Through realms of song, of beauty, and of bliss; | |
| And therefore have I named thee Beatrice! | | | | |
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