Sonnet LXXXVI. To The Lake Of Killarney.

A poem by Anna Seward

Pride of Ierne's Sea-encircled bound,
Rival of all Britannia's Naiads boast,
Magnificent Killarney! - from thy coast
Tho' mountains rise with noblest woods embrown'd;
Tho' ten-voiced Echos send the cannon's sound
In thunders bursting the vast rocks around,
Till startled Wonder and Delight exhaust
In countless repercussion - Isles embost
Upon thy liquid glass; their bloomy veil
Sorbus and [=a]rbutus; - yet not for thee
So keenly wakes our local ecstacy,
As o'er the narrow, barren, silent Dale,
Where deeply sleeps, rude circling Rocks among,
The Love-devoted Fount enamour'd PETRARCH sung.

1: This Sonnet was written on having read a description of the Killarney Scenery immediately after that of the Vale of Vaucluse, uncultivated and comparatively desert as the latter has been through more than the present Century.

Reader Comments

Tell us what you think of 'Sonnet LXXXVI. To The Lake Of Killarney.' by Anna Seward

comments powered by Disqus