Henry Alford

Sonnet I. " If thou wouldst find what holiest men have sought"

If thou wouldst find what holiest men have sought, Communion with the power of Poesy, Empty thy mind of all unquiet thought, Lay bare thy spirit to the vaulting sky And glory of the sunshine: go and stand Where nodding briers sport with the water--break, Or by the plashings of a moonlight creek, Or breast the wind upon some jutting land: The most unheeded things have influences That sink into the soul; in after--hours We oft are tempted suddenly to dress The tombs of half--forgotten moods with flowers: Our own choice mocks us; and the sweetest themes Come to us without call, wavward as dreams.