William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.
On a TearSamuel Rogers (17631855)
O
Could crystallize this sacred treasure!
Long should it glitter near my heart,
A secret source of pensive pleasure.
Its lustre caught from Chloe’s eye;
Then, trembling, left its coral cell—
The spring of Sensibility!
In thee the rays of Virtue shine;
More calmly clear, more mildly bright,
Than any gem that gilds the mine.
Who ever fly’st to bring relief,
When first we feel the rude controul
Of Love or Pity, Joy or Grief.
In every clime, in every age;
Thou charm’st in Fancy’s idle dream,
In Reason’s philosophic page.
And bids it trickle from its source,
That law preserves the earth a sphere,
And guides the planets in their course.