Sonnet[152:2]

Linenotes:

Title] To an Unfortunate Princess MS. Letter, July 4, 1796.

might] could MS. Letter, 1796.

thy] the Felix Farley's, &c.

meeting] bosomed MS. Letter, 1796.

On Receiving a Letter Informing Me of the Birth of a Son

When they did greet me father, sudden awe
Weigh'd down my spirit: I retired and knelt
Seeking the throne of grace, but inly felt
No heavenly visitation upwards draw
My feeble mind, nor cheering ray impart.
Ah me! before the Eternal Sire I brought
Th' unquiet silence of confuséd thought
And shapeless feelings: my o'erwhelméd heart
Trembled, and vacant tears stream'd down my face.
And now once more, O Lord! to thee I bend,
Lover of souls! and groan for future grace,
That ere my babe youth's perilous maze have trod,
Thy overshadowing Spirit may descend,
And he be born again, a child of God.

Sept. 20, 1796.