Lapsus Calami (Aug 1891)/A Sonnet
A Sonnet.
Two voices are there: one is of the deep;It learns the storm-cloud's thunderous melody,Now roars, now murmurs with the changing sea,Now bird-like pipes, now closes soft in sleep:And one is of an old half-witted sheepWhich bleats articulate monotony,And indicates that two and one are three,That grass is green, lakes damp, and mountains steep:And, Wordsworth, both are thine: at certain timesForth from the heart of thy melodious rhymes,The form and pressure of high thoughts will burst:At other times—good Lord! I'd rather beQuite unacquainted with the A. B. C.Than write such hopeless rubbish as thy worst.