- A Sonnet is a moment's monument,—
- Memorial from the soul's eternity
- To one dead deathless hour. Look that it be,
- Whether for lustral rite or dire portent,
- Of its own intricate fulness reverent:
- Carve it in ivory or in ebony,
- As Day or Night prevail; and let Time see
- It's flowering crest impearled and orient.
- A Sonnet is a coin: its face reveals
- The soul,—its converse, to what Power 'tis due:—
- Whether for tribute to the august appeals
- Of Life, or dower in Love's high retinue,
- It serve; or, 'mid the dark wharf's cavernous breath,
- In Charon's palm it pay the toll to Death.
