The Disenthralled and Uncorrupted Band

Sonnet: For January
by William Johnston Hutchinson

The disenthralled and uncorrupted band
Sweeps down from chilling realms. Its store expends
In one symphonious whole. The prospect blends:
And lo! the panoply by Grandeur plann'd,
With moor reluctant to the swain's demand,
In purity harmoniously lends
An unmatched, surfaced tablet, that contends
To take the tracings of the Master-hand.
And thus the soul, by nobler, pure desires
Its lavish or its meaner dress conceals
By fairer aspect: and, new born, aspires
To purposes this fresh emotion yields.
And all bewonder'd muses past attires—
And wondering, germs of excellence reveals.