Sonnet.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
On Mrs. Kemble's readings from Shakespeare
O precious evenings! all too swiftly sped!
Leaving us heirs to amplest heritages
Of all the best thoughts of the greatest sages,
And giving tongues unto the silent dead!
How our hearts glowed and trembled as she read,
Interpreting by tones the wondrous pages
Of the great poet who foreruns the ages,
Anticipating all that shall be said!
O happy Reader! having for thy text
The magic book, whose Sibylline leaves have caught
The rarest essence of all human thought!
O happy Poet! by no critic vext!
How must thy listening spirit now rejoice
To be interpreted by such a voice!
Source Book
Longfellow's Poetical Works
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Copyright 1893
Published by Henry Frowde, London
To Link To This Page
If you have a website and feel that a link to this page would fit in nicely with the content of your pages, please feel free to link to this page. Copy and paste the following html into your webpage. (You may modify the link text to suit your needs).
This link will look like this:
Sonnet.
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
