Sonnet to Henry Hetherington.
Firm-minded friend ! who in thy chosen path1
Walk’st on courageously, and waverest not—2
Would that I were a sharer in thy lot !3
But other ties my humbler spirit hath,4
And in seclusion by a quiet hearth,5
Unwatched by foes, almost by friends forgot,6
I cherish hope and faith with patient thought,7
Whilst thou art wrestling with the tyrants’ wrath.8
Be of good cheer ! the dawn of freer days9
Is seen even now ; and to the struggling light10
Slow breaking through the mists of shrinking error,11
Millions are turning with an upward gaze.12
To them the radiance is a holy sight—13
To their oppressors it is woe and terror.14