Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

On Mrs. Kemble's Readings from Shakespeare

            Sonnet

O precious evenings! all too swiftly sped!
Leaving us heirs to amplest heritages
Of all the best thoughts of the greatest sages,
And giving tongues unto the silent dead!
How our hearts glowed and trembled as she read,
Interpreting by tones the wondrous pages
Of the great poet who foreruns the ages,
Anticipating all that shall be said!
O happy Reader! having for thy text
The magic book, whose Sibylline leaves have caught
The rarest essence of all human thought!
O happy Poet! by no critic vext!
How must thy listening spirit now rejoice
To be interpreted by such a voice!

1. The Belfry of Bruges
2. Midnight Mass for the Dying Year
3. Burial of the Minnisink
4. Blind Bartimeus
5. The Light of Stars

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