To J. S.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_10px.svg/10px-Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_10px.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Rule_Segment_-_Diamond_-_4px.svg/5px-Rule_Segment_-_Diamond_-_4px.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_10px.svg/10px-Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_10px.svg.png)
i.
More softly round the open wold,
And gently comes the world to those
That are cast in gentle mould.
ii.
Or else I had not dared to flow
In these words toward you, and invade
Even with a verse your holy woe.
iii.
Those in whose laps our limbs are nursed,
Fall into shadow, soonest lost:
Those we love first are taken first.