Poem by Charles Tennyson Turner

The Process of Composition: An Illustration

Oft in our fancy an uncertain thought
Hangs colourless, like dew on bents of grass,
Before the morning o'er the field doth pass;
But soon it glows and brightens; all unsought
A sudden glory flashes through the dream,
Our purpose deepens and our wit grows brave,
The thronging hints a richer utterance crave,
And tongues of fire approach the new-won theme;
A subtler process now begins--a claim
Is urged for order, a well-balanced scheme
Of words and numbers, a consistent aim;
The dew dissolves before the warming beam;
But that fair thought consolidates its flame,
And keeps its colours, hardening to a flame.

1. The South-Foreland Electric Light
2. The Hydraulic Ram, or The Influence of Sound on Mood
3. Silkworms and Spiders
4. On the Eclipse of the Moon of October 1865
5. The Sonneteer to the Sea-Shell

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