his feelings for her in an extended poem, "The Enthusiast". Over twenty years later, in 1847, he confided in John Herschel that during this period he might have become a poet. In 1825, Hamilton met Arabella Lawrence, younger sister of Sarah Lawrence, a significant correspondent and frank critic of his poetry. It was a contact he made through Maria Edgeworth's circle. At Dunsink Hamilton, now Royal Astronomer of Ireland, took up residence at Dunsink Observatory where he spent the rest of his life. He was there from 1827 until his death in 1865. In his early years at Dunsink, Hamilton observed the heavens quite regularly; he left routine observation to his assistant Charles Thompson. Hamilton's sisters also supported the observatory's work. The introductory lectures by Hamilton in astronomy were celebrated; in addition to his students, they attracted scholars, poets, and women. Felicia Hemans wrote her poem The Prayer of the Lonely Student after hearing one of his lectures. Personal life, travel and poetic visits Hamilton invited his four sisters to come and live at the observatory in 1827, and they ran the household until his marriage in 1833. They included Eliza Mary Hamilton (1807–1851) the poet. In 1827, Hamilton wrote to his sister Grace about "some of" the Lawrence sisters having met his sister Eliza in Dublin. Newly appointed to the Observatory, Hamilton set off on a tour in Ireland and England with Alexander Nimmo, who was coaching him on latitude and longitude. One call was to Sarah Lawrence's school at Gateacre, near Liverpool, where Hamilton had a chance to assess the calculator Master Noakes. They visited William Wordsworth at Rydal Mount in September of that year, where Caesar Otway was also present. After the visit, Hamilton sent numerous poems to Wordsworth, becoming a "poetic disciple". When Wordsworth visited Dublin in summer 1829, in a party with John Marshall and his family, he stayed at Dunsink with Hamilton. On a second tour in England with Nimmo in 1831, Hamilton parted from him at Birmingham, to visit the Lawrence sisters and family on his mother's side in the Liverpool area. They met up again in the Lake District, where they climbed Helvellyn and had tea with Wordsworth. Hamilton returned to Dublin, via Edinburgh and Glasgow. Hamilton visited Samuel Taylor Coleridge at Highgate, in 1832, helped by an unexpected letter of introduction given to him by Sarah Lawrence on a visit to