Sonnet: 'To one who has been long in city pent'

To one who has been long in city pent,

      'T is very sweet to look into the fair

      And open face of heaven,—to breathe a prayer

Full in the smile of the blue firmament.

Who is more happy, when, with hearts content,

      Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair

      Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair

And gentle tale of love and languishment?

Returning home at evening, with an ear

      Catching the notes of Philomel,—an eye

Watching the sailing cloudlet's bright career,

      He mourns that day so soon has glided by:

E'en like the passage of an angel's tear

      That falls through the clear ether silently.