Fair Cousin, thy page <br />is small to encage <br />the thoughts which engage <br />the mind of a sage, <br />such as I am; <br /> <br />'Twere in teaspoon to take <br />the whole Genevese lake, <br />or a lap-dog to make <br />the white Elephant sac- <br />-red in Siam. <br /> <br />Yet inadequate though <br />to the terms strange and so- <br />-lemn that figure in po- <br />-lysyllabical row <br />in a treatise; <br /> <br />Still, true words and plain, <br />of the heart, not the brain, <br />in affectionate strain, <br />this book to contain <br />very meet is. <br /> <br />So I promise to be <br />a good Cousin to thee, <br />and to keep safe the se- <br />-cret I heard, although e- <br />-v'ry one know it; <br /> <br />With a lyrical air <br />my kind thoughts I would dare, <br />and offer whate'er <br />beseems the news, were <br />I a poet.<br /><br />John Henry Newman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/opusculum/
