On Burning a Parcel of Old MSS.
On Burning a Parcel of Old MSS.
Original Text
Sir John F. W. Herschel, Essays from the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews, with addresses and other Pieces (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Robarts, 1857): 741. Fisher Rare Book Library
1Wrecks of forgotten thought, or disapproved,
2 Farewell! and as your smouldering flames ascend,
3 Read me a parting lesson. As the friend
4Familiar once, but since less fondly loved,
5(Dire spite of earthly chance), and wide removed
6 With earthquake of the heart! has ceased to blend
7 Warmth with my warmth, and sympathies extend,
8Where mine are linked and locked! Had I but proved
9Earlier your weakness! Yet not all in vain
10 Do I receive your warning. On I hie,
11All unrepressed, though cautious; nor complain
12 Of faint essays in tottering infancy.
13Enough, if cleansed at last from earthly stain,
14 My homeward march be firm, and pure my evening sky.
Publication Start Year
1857
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2002
Rhyme
Form