Were I the poet-laureate of the fairies, <br />Who in a rose-leaf finds too broad a page; <br />Or could I, like your beautiful canaries, <br />Sing with free heart and happy, in a cage; <br />Perhaps I might within this little space <br />(As in some Eastern tale, by magic power, <br />A giant is imprisoned in a flower) <br />Have told you something with a poet's grace. <br />But I need wider limits, ampler scope, <br />A world of freedom for a world of passion, <br />And even then, the glory of my hope <br />Would not be uttered in its stateliest fashion; <br />Yet, lady, when fit language shall have told it, <br />You'll find one little heart enough to hold it!<br /><br />Henry Timrod<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-10-4/
