James Thomson - Sonnet 2 lyrics

Striving to sing glad songs, I but attain Wild discords sadder than Grief's saddest tune; As if an owl with his harsh screech should strain To over-gratulate a thrush of June. The nightingale upon its thorny spray Finds inspiration in the sullen dark; The kindling dawn, the world-wide joyous day Are inspiration to the soaring lark; The seas are silent in the sunny calm, Their anthem surges in the tempest boom; The skies outroll no solemn thunder psalm Till they have clothed themselves with clouds of gloom. My mirth can laugh and talk, but cannot sing; My grief finds harmonies in everything.