Sonnet, to Genevra
Thine eyes’ blue tenderness, thy long fair hair,
And the wan lustre of thy features caught
From contemplation-where serenely wrought,
Seems Sorrow’s softness charm’d from its despair—
Have thrown such speaking sadness in thine air
That—but I know thy blessed bosom fraught
With mines of unalloy’d and stainless thought—
I should have deem’d thee doom’d to earthly care.
With such an aspect, by his colours blent,
When from his beauty-breathing penÂcil born
(Except that thou hast nothing to repent),
The Magdalen of Guido saw the morn—
Such seem’st thou—but how much more excellent!
With nought Remorse can claim—nor Virtue scorn.
December 17, 1813.
