A PRECIOUS, mouldering pleasure ’t is

To meet an antique book,

In just the dress his century wore;

A privilege, I think,

His venerable hand to take, 5

And warming in our own,

A passage back, or two, to make

To times when he was young.

His quaint opinions to inspect,

His knowledge to unfold 10

On what concerns our mutual mind,

The literature of old;

What interested scholars most,

What competitions ran

When Plato was a certainty, 15

And Sophocles a man;

When Sappho was a living girl,

And Beatrice wore

The gown that Dante deified.

Facts, centuries before, 20

He traverses familiar,

As one should come to town

And tell you all your dreams were true:

He lived where dreams were born.

His presence is enchantment, 25

You beg him not to go;

Old volumes shake their vellum heads