Sonnet 31 (Sonnets, 1833)

What is young Passion but a gusty breeze
Ruffling the surface of a shallow flood ?
A vernal motion of the vital blood,
That sweetly gushes from a heart at ease,
As sugar'd sap in spicy-budding trees ?
And tho' a wish be born with every morrow,
And fondest dreams full oft are types of sorrow,
Eyes that can smile may weep just when they please.
But adult Passion, centred far within,
Hid from the moment's venom and its balm,
Works with the fell inherency of sin,
Nor feels the joy of morn, nor evening calm :
For morn nor eve can change that fiery gloom
That glares within the spirit's living tomb.