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I LINGERED through the night to break of day, / Nor once did sleep extend a wing to me, / Intently busied with a vast array / Of epithets that should outfigure thee.
Full-featured terms-all fitless-hastened by, / And this sole speech remained: "That maiden mine! "- / Debarred from due description then did I / Perceive the indefinite phrase could yet define.
As common chests encasing wares of price / Are borne with tenderness through halls of state, / For what they cover, so the poor device / Of homely wording I could tolerate, / Knowing its unadornment held as freight / The sweetest image outside Paradise.