O! Reason! vaunted Sovreign of the mind! <br />Thou pompous vision with a sounding name! <br />Can'st thou, the soul's rebellious passions tame! <br />Can'st thou in spells the vagrant fancy bind? <br />Ah, no! capricious as the wav'ring wind, <br />Are sighs of Love that dim thy boasted flame, <br />While Folly's torch consumes the wreath of fame, <br />And Pleasure's hands the sheaves of truth unbind. <br />Press'd by the storms of Fate, hope shrinks and dies; <br />Frenzy darts forth in mightiest ills array'd; <br />Around thy throne destructive tumults rise, <br />And hell-fraught jealousies, thy rights invade! <br />Then, what art thou? O! Idol of the wise! <br />A visionary theme!--a gorgeous shade!<br /><br />Mary Darby Robinson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-xi-o-reason/
