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[Page 23]
SONNET [03] III. To a Nightingale.
1 POOR melancholy bird — that all night long[*]
[*]
LINE 1. The idea from the 43d Sonnet of Petrarch. Secondo parte. Quel rosigniuol, che si soave piagne.
2 Tell'st to the Moon thy tale of tender woe;
3 From what sad cause can such sweet sorrow flow,
4 And whence this mournful melody of song?
5 Thy poet's musing fancy would translate
6 What mean the sounds that swell thy little breast,
7 When still at dewy eve thou leav'st thy nest,
8 Thus to the list'ning night to sing thy fate?
9 Pale Sorrow's victims wert thou once among,
10 Tho' now releas'd in woodlands wild to rove?
11 Say — Hast thou felt from friends some cruel wrong,
12 Or diedst thou — martyr of disastrous love?
13 Ah, songstress sad! that such my lot might be,
14 To sigh and sing, at liberty — like thee!
About this text
Author: Charlotte Smith (née Turner)
Themes:
sadness; nature
Genres:
sonnet
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Smith, Charlotte Turner, 1749-1806. Elegiac sonnets, and other poems. By Charlotte Smith. The first Worcester edition, from the sixth London edition, with additions. Printed at Worcester [Mass.]: by Isaiah Thomas, sold by him in Worcester, and by said Thomas and Andrews in Boston, 1795, p. 23. xix,[2],22-126,[2]p.,[5] leaves of plates: ill.; 15 cm. (12mo) (OTA N22357)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Charlotte Smith (née Turner)
- Elegy. ()
- [THE EMIGRANTS.] ()
- Ode to Despair. From the Novel of Emmeline. ()
- Origin of Flattery. ()
- Peasant of the Alps. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- Song. ()
- Song. From the French of Cardinal Bernis. ()
- SONNET [01] I. ()
- SONNET [02] II. Written at the Close of Spring. ()
- SONNET [04] IV. To the Moon. ()
- SONNET [05] V. To the South Downs. ()
- SONNET [06] VI. To Hope. ()
- SONNET [07] VII. On the Departure of the Nightingale. ()
- SONNET [08] VIII. To Spring. ()
- SONNET [09] IX. ()
- SONNET [10] X. To Mrs. G***. ()
- SONNET [11] XI. To Sleep. ()
- SONNET [12] XII. Written on the Sea Shore. — October, 1784. ()
- SONNET [13] XIII. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [14] XIV. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [15] XV. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [16] XVI. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [17] XVII. From the thirteenth Cantata of Metastasio. ()
- SONNET [18] XVIII. To the Earl of Egremont. ()
- SONNET [19] XIX. To Mr. Hayley. On receiving some elegant Lines from him. ()
- SONNET [20] XX. To the Cotentess of A****. Written on the Anniversary of her Marriage. ()
- SONNET [21] XXI. Supposed to be written by Werter. ()
- SONNET [22] XXII. By the same. To Solitude. ()
- SONNET [23] XXIII. By the same. To the North Star. ()
- SONNET [24] XXIV. By the same. ()
- SONNET [25] XXV. By the same. Just before his Death. ()
- SONNET [26] XXVI. To the River Arun. ()
- SONNET [27] XXVII. ()
- SONNET [28] XXVIII. To Friendship. ()
- SONNET [29] XXIX. To Miss C****. On being desired to attempt writing a Comedy. ()
- SONNET [30] XXX. To the River Arun. ()
- SONNET [31] XXXI. Written on Farm Wood, South Downs, May, 1784. ()
- SONNET [32] XXXII. To Melancholy. Written on the Banks of the Arun, October, 1785. ()
- SONNET [33] XXXIII. To the Naiad of the Arun. ()
- SONNET [34] XXXIV. To a Friend. ()
- SONNET [35] XXXV. To Fortitude. ()
- SONNET [36] XXXVI. ()
- SONNET [37] XXXVII. Sent to the Hon. Mrs. O'Niell, with painted Flowers. ()
- SONNET [38] XXXVIII. From the Novel of Emmeline. ()
- SONNET [39] XXXIX. To Night. From the same. ()
- SONNET [40] XL. From the same. ()
- SONNET [41] XLI. To Tranquillity. ()
- SONNET [42] XLII. Composed during a Walk on the Downs, Nov. 1787. ()
- SONNET [43] XLIII. ()
- SONNET [44] XLIV. Written in the Church Yard at Middleton in Sussex. ()
- SONNET [45] XLV. On leaving a part of Sussex. ()
- SONNET [46] XLVI. Written at Penshurst, in Autumn, 1788. ()
- SONNET [47] XLVII. To Fancy. ()
- SONNET [48] XLVIII. To Mrs. ****. ()
- SONNET [49] XLIX. Supposed to have been written in a Church Yard, over the Grave of a Young Woman of nineteen. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [50] L. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [51] LI. Supposed to have been written in the Hebrides. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [52] LII. The Pilgrim. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [53] LIII. The Laplander. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [54] LIV. The sleeping Woodman. Written in April, 1790. ()
- SONNET [55] LV. The Return of the Nightingale. Written in May, 1791. ()
- SONNET [56] LVI. The Captive escaped in the Wilds of America. Addressed to the Honourable Mrs. O'Neill. ()
- SONNET [57] LVII. To Dependence. ()
- SONNET [58] LVIII. The Glow Worm. ()
- SONNET [59] LIX. Written during a Thunder Storm, September, 1791; in which the Moon was perfectly clear, while the Tempest gathered in various directions near the Earth. ()
- Thirty Eight. Addressed to Mrs. H—y. ()
- Verses. Intended to have been prefixed to the Novel of Emmeline, but these suppressed. ()