Book 2 — SONNET[152:2]
Reading edition
SONNET[152:2]
ON RECEIVING A LETTER INFORMING ME OF THE BIRTH OF A SON
When they did greet me father, sudden awe Weigh'd down my spirit: I retired and knelt Seeking the throne of grace, but inly felt [153]No heavenly visitation upwards draw My feeble mind, nor cheering ray impart. 5 Ah me! before the Eternal Sire I brought Th' unquiet silence of confuséd thought And shapeless feelings: my o'erwhelméd heart Trembled, and vacant tears stream'd down my face. And now once more, O Lord! to thee I bend, 10 Lover of souls! and groan for future grace, That ere my babe youth's perilous maze have trod, Thy overshadowing Spirit may descend, And he be born again, a child of God.
Sept. 20, 1796.
FOOTNOTES:
LINENOTES:
Title] Sonnet written on receiving letter informing me of the birth of a son, I being at Birmingham MS. Letter, Nov. 1, 1796.
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shapeless] hopeless B. L.