To the Author of a Sonnet Beginning " ? " Sad Is My Verse," You Say, " And Yet No Tear"? "

Thy verse is " sad" enough, no doubt:
A devilish deal more sad than witty:
Why we should weep I can't find out,
Unless for thee we weep in pity

Yet there is one I pity more;
And much, alas! I think he needs it:
For he, I'm sure, will suffer sore,
Who, to his own misfortune, reads it.

Thy rhymes, without the aid of magic,
May once be read — but never after:
Yet their effect's by no means tragic,
Although by far too dull for laughter.

But would you make our bosoms bleed,
And of no common pang complain —
If you would make us weep indeed,
Tell us you'll read them o'er again.
March 8, 1807. [First published, 1832.]
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