Sonnet VII. Whither is Gone the Wisdom and the Power
Sonnet VII. Whither is Gone the Wisdom and the Power
Original Text
Poems by Hartley Coleridge (Leeds: F. E. Bingley, 1833): 8. D-10 2741 Fisher Rare Book Library.
1Whither is gone the wisdom and the power
2That ancient sages scatter'd with the notes
3Of thought-suggesting lyres? The music floats
4In the void air; e'en at this breathing hour,
5In every cell and every blooming bower
6The sweetness of old lays is hovering still:
7But the strong soul, the self-constraining will,
8The rugged root that bare the winsome flower
10That sweetly nestle in the fox-glove bells,
11Or lurk and murmur in the rose-lipp'd shells
Notes
9] Hartley Coleridge notes that "Popular fancy has generally conceived a connection between the Fox-glove and the good people ..." (146). Back to Line
12] Neptune: god of the sea. Back to Line
13] Philomels: Philomela, the daughter of Pandion, king of Athens, was raped by her brother-in-law, Tereus, and then transformed into a nightingale after she and her sister Procne take revenge on him. Back to Line
14] roundelays: brief lyric with a refrain, the diminutive of "rondel." Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1833
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1999.
Rhyme
Form