296. Scorn not the Sonnet by William Wordsworth
W Wordsworth read by Classic Poetry Aloud:\n http://www.classicpoetryaloud.com/\n \n Giving voice to the poetry of the past.\n \n ---------------------------------------------\n \n Scorn not the Sonnet\n by William Wordsworth (1770 \u2013 1850)\n \n Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned,\n Mindless of its just honours; with this key\n Shakespeare unlocked his heart; the melody\n Of this small lute gave ease to Petrarch's wound;\n A thousand times this pipe did Tasso sound;\n With it Cam\xf6ens soothed an exile's grief;\n The Sonnet glittered a gay myrtle leaf\n Amid the cypress with which Dante crowned\n His visionary brow: a glow-worm lamp,\n It cheered mild Spenser, called from Faery-land\n To struggle through dark ways; and, when a damp\n Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand\n The Thing became a trumpet; whence he blew\n Soul-animating strains--alas, too few!\n \n \n For hundreds more poetry readings, visit the Classic Poetry Aloud index.\n \n Reading \xa9 Classic Poetry Aloud 2008