SONNET.

     Oh! let me gaze upon thy lustrous eyes,
     As on the arbiters of my soul’s destiny.
     My Reason sways—without thee all is dark;
     And my poor mind, like to a periled bark,
     Looks toward thee as the mariner to the skies;

     And looking on those orbs of light, I see
     Two guiding stars that draw my soul to thee.
     Save my endangered hopes—my shipwrecked fears,
     As on the boundless ocean of suspense
     They toss and tremble upon Danger’s brink,

     Above a gulf in which I seem to sink,
     No arm outstretched to bear my spirit thence.
     ’Tis the remembrance of thine eyes that cheers
My drooping spirit through the tedious years. [Page 86]