TO SARAH JAMES OF BEGUILDY
Reading edition
Acrostic
Sleep hath treasures worth retracing: Are you not in slumbers pacing Round your native spot at times, And seem to hear Beguildy's chimes? Hold the airy vision fast; Joy is but a dream at last: And what was so fugitive, Memory only makes to live. Even from troubles past we borrow Some thoughts that may lighten sorrow,
Onwards as we pace through life, Fainting under care or strife,
By the magic of a thought Every object back is brought Gayer than it was when real, Under influence ideal. In remembrance as a glass, Let your happy childhood pass; Dreaming so in fancy's spells, You still shall hear those old church bells.