Poem of the week: Surprised by joy - impatient as the wind

This week's choice is the sonnet written in the aftermath of the death of his three-year-old daughter, Catherine. The opening line is much quoted, and wonderfully, strikingly original: "Surprised by joy – impatient as the wind." Those two adjectival clauses, separated by a dash – or, rather, a delicious gasp - instantly focus attention on the sensations rather than the subject, "I". And, of course, the "I" is unimportant, relatively. The second line - "I turned to share the transport – Oh! With whom" - pushes onward to its apostrophe, deferred until the last possible moment – "With whom/ but thee …" The lines rise to a crescendo, and "thee", addressing the child no longer there, is the word with which they peak.

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Surprised by joy - impatient as the wind

Surprised by joy – impatient as the wind
I turned to share the transport – Oh! With whom
But thee, long buried in the silent tomb,
That spot which no vicissitude can find?
Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind –
But how could I forget thee? - Through what power,
Even for the least division of an hour,
Have I been so beguiled as to be blind
To my most grievous loss? – That thought's return
Was the worse pang that sorrow ever bore,
Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,
Knowing my heart's best treasure was no more;
That neither present time nor years unborn
Could to my sight that heavenly face restore.