Alice Fell, Or Poverty by William Wordsworth
THE post-boy drove with fierce career, For threatening clouds the moon had drowned; When, as we hurried on, my ear Was smitten with a startling sound. As if the wind blew many ways, I heard the sound,-and more and more; It seemed to follow with the chaise, And still I heard it as before. At […]
After-Thought by William Wordsworth
. I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide, As being past away.-Vain sympathies! For, backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes, I see what was, and is, and will abide; Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide; The Form remains, the Function never dies; While we, the brave, the mighty, and […]
“Advance – Come Forth From Thy Tyrolean Ground” by William Wordsworth
ADVANCE-come forth from thy Tyrolean ground, Dear Liberty! stern Nymph of soul untamed; Sweet Nymph, O rightly of the mountains named! Through the long chain of Alps from mound to mound And o’er the eternal snows, like Echo, bound; Like Echo, when the hunter train at dawn Have roused her from her sleep: and forest-lawn, […]
Admonition by William Wordsworth
WELL may’st thou halt-and gaze with brightening eye! The lovely Cottage in the guardian nook Hath stirred thee deeply; with its own dear brook, Its own small pasture, almost its own sky! But covet not the Abode;-forbear to sigh, As many do, repining while they look; Intruders-who would tear from Nature’s book This precious leaf, […]
Address To The Scholars Of The Village School Of — by William Wordsworth
I COME, ye little noisy Crew, Not long your pastime to prevent; I heard the blessing which to you Our common Friend and Father sent. I kissed his cheek before he died; And when his breath was fled, I raised, while kneeling by his side, His hand:-it dropped like lead. Your hands, dear Little-ones, do […]
Address To Kilchurn Castle, Upon Loch Awe by William Wordsworth
CHILD of loud-throated War! the mountain Stream Roars in thy hearing; but thy hour of rest Is come, and thou art silent in thy age; Save when the wind sweeps by and sounds are caught Ambiguous, neither wholly thine nor theirs. Oh! there is life that breathes not; Powers there are That touch each other […]
Address To A Child During A Boisterous Winter By My Sister by William Wordsworth
WHAT way does the wind come? What way does he go? He rides over the water, and over the snow, Through wood, and through vale; and, o’er rocky height Which the goat cannot climb, takes his sounding flight; He tosses about in every bare tree, As, if you look up, you plainly may see; But […]
A Wren’s Nest by William Wordsworth
AMONG the dwellings framed by birds In field or forest with nice care, Is none that with the little Wren’s In snugness may compare. No door the tenement requires, And seldom needs a laboured roof; Yet is it to the fiercest sun Impervious, and storm-proof. So warm, so beautiful withal, In perfect fitness for its […]
A Whirl-Blast From Behind The Hill by William Wordsworth
A Whirl-Blast from behind the hill Rushed o’er the wood with startling sound; Then-all at once the air was still, And showers of hailstones pattered round. Where leafless oaks towered high above, I sat within an undergrove Of tallest hollies, tall and green; A fairer bower was never seen. From year to year the spacious […]
A Prophecy. February 1807 by William Wordsworth
HIGH deeds, O Germans, are to come from you! Thus in your books the record shall be found, “A watchword was pronounced, a potent sound– ARMINIUS!–all the people quaked like dew Stirred by the breeze; they rose, a Nation, true, True to herself–the mighty Germany, She of the Danube and the Northern Sea, She rose, […]
A Night Thought by William Wordsworth
Lo! where the Moon along the sky Sails with her happy destiny; Oft is she hid from mortal eye Or dimly seen, But when the clouds asunder fly How bright her mien! Far different we-a froward race, Thousands though rich in Fortune’s grace With cherished sullenness of pace Their way pursue, Ingrates who wear a […]
A Night-Piece by William Wordsworth
—The sky is overcast With a continuous cloud of texture close, Heavy and wan, all whitened by the Moon, Which through that veil is indistinctly seen, A dull, contracted circle, yielding light So feebly spread, that not a shadow falls, Chequering the ground-from rock, plant, tree, or tower. At length a pleasant instantaneous gleam Startles […]
A Narrow Girdle Of Rough Stones And Crags, by William Wordsworth
A narrow girdle of rough stones and crags, A rude and natural causeway, interposed Between the water and a winding slope Of copse and thicket, leaves the eastern shore Of Grasmere safe in its own privacy: And there myself and two beloved Friends, One calm September morning, ere the mist Had altogether yielded to the […]
A Flower Garden At Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire. by William Wordsworth
TELL me, ye Zephyrs! that unfold, While fluttering o’er this gay Recess, Pinions that fanned the teeming mould Of Eden’s blissful wilderness, Did only softly-stealing hours There close the peaceful lives of flowers? Say, when the ‘moving’ creatures saw All kinds commingled without fear, Prevailed a like indulgent law For the still growths that prosper […]
A Farewell by William Wordsworth
FAREWELL, thou little Nook of mountain-ground, Thou rocky corner in the lowest stair Of that magnificent temple which doth bound One side of our whole vale with grandeur rare; Sweet garden-orchard, eminently fair, The loveliest spot that man hath ever found, Farewell!–we leave thee to Heaven’s peaceful care, Thee, and the Cottage which thou dost […]
A Character by William Wordsworth
I marvel how Nature could ever find space For so many strange contrasts in one human face: There’s thought and no thought, and there’s paleness and bloom And bustle and sluggishness, pleasure and gloom. There’s weakness, and strength both redundant and vain; Such strength as, if ever affliction and pain Could pierce through a temper […]