Common things transfigured flush

By the magic of the brush,

As when sun-touched raindrops glow,

Blent in one harmonious bow.

But see, he comes, Lord of life's changeful shows,

To whom the ways of Nature are laid bare,

Who looks on heaven and makes the heavens more fair,

And adds new sweetness to the perfumed rose;

[54]

Who can unseal the heart with all its tears,

Marshal loves, hates, hopes, sorrows, joys, and fears

In quick procession o'er the passive pages;

Who has given tongue to silent generations

And wings to thought, so that long-mouldered nations

May call to nations o'er the abyss of ages:

The poet, in whose shaping brain

Life is created o'er again

With loftier raptures, loftier pain;

Whose mighty potencies of verse

Move through the plastic Universe,

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