The Sonnet.

؟What is a sonnet? 'Tis the pearly shell
That murmurs of the far-off murmuring sea;
A precious jewel carved most curiously;
It is a little picture painted well.
؟What is a sonnet? 'Tis the tear that fell
From a great poet's hidden ecstasy;
A two-edged sword, a star, a song—! ah me!
Sometimes a heavy tolling funeral bell, [breath;
This was the flame that shook with Dante's
The solemn organ whereon Milton played,
And the clear glass where Shakspeare's shadow [falls:
A sea this is—! beware who ventureth!
For like a fjord the narrow floor is laid
Mid-ocean deep to the sheer mountain walls.

—Richard Watson Gilder.