A SONNET TO A FRIEND
Reading edition
YOUNG bright-plumed eagle, prince of pure heaven’s fire, Inhabitant of glory clothed in light, Exalt me to this new triumphant pyre That burns the shades and monsters of our night, Vouchsafe thy spirit; touch me with the power So to desire, and so maintain my voice As thou, who in thy fair ascending hour Hawk’st in the top of morning at thy joys; O mortal splendour in immortal beams, Or deathless ghost, who buildest out of dust An edifice of temporal flame which seems Beyond the movement of our change and rust, Though it must die; O sheer delight above me, Fountain of undescended love, I love thee.