| Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916. | | | X. The Pity of It
Sonnet: ‘Sweet soul, which in the April of thy years’ | | By William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649) |
| | | SWEET soul, which in the April of thy years | |
| So to enrich the heaven mad’st poor this round, | |
| And now with golden rays of glory crown’d | |
| Most blest abid’st above the sphere of spheres; | |
| If heavenly laws, alas! have not thee bound | 5 |
| From looking to this globe that all upbears, | |
| If ruth and pity there above be found, | |
| O deign to lend a look unto these tears. | |
| Do not disdain, dear ghost, this sacrifice, | |
| And though I raise not pillars to thy praise, | 10 |
| Mine offerings take; let this for me suffice, | |
| My heart a living pyramid I raise; | |
| And whilst kings’ tombs with laurels flourish green, | |
| Thine shall with myrtles, and these flow’rs be seen. | | | | |
|
|
