I Grieved For Buonaparte by William Wordsworth
I GRIEVED for Buonaparte, with a vain And an unthinking grief! The tenderest mood Of that Man’s mind–what can it be? what food Fed his first hopes? what knowledge could ‘he’ gain? ‘Tis not in battles that from youth we train The Governor who must be wise and good, And temper with the sternness of […]
How Sweet It Is, When Mother Fancy Rocks by William Wordsworth
HOW sweet it is, when mother Fancy rocks The wayward brain, to saunter through a wood! An old place, full of many a lovely brood, Tall trees, green arbours, and ground-flowers in flocks; And wild rose tip-toe upon hawthorn stocks, Like a bold Girl, who plays her agile pranks At Wakes and Fairs with wandering […]
Hoffer by William Wordsworth
OF mortal parents is the Hero born By whom the undaunted Tyrolese are led? Or is it Tell’s great Spirit, from the dead Returned to animate an age forlorn? He comes like Phoebus through the gates of morn When dreary darkness is discomfited, Yet mark his modest state! upon his head, That simple crest, a […]
Hint From The Mountains For Certain Political Pretenders by William Wordsworth
“WHO but hails the sight with pleasure When the wings of genius rise, Their ability to measure With great enterprise; But in man was ne’er such daring As yon Hawk exhibits, pairing His brave spirit with the war in The stormy skies! “Mark him, how his power he uses, Lays it by, at will resumes! […]
Here Pause: The Poet Claims At Least This Praise by William Wordsworth
HERE pause: the poet claims at least this praise, That virtuous Liberty hath been the scope Of his pure song, which did not shrink from hope In the worst moment of these evil days; From hope, the paramount ‘duty’ that Heaven lays, For its own honour, on man’s suffering heart. Never may from our souls […]
Her Eyes Are Wild by William Wordsworth
I HER eyes are wild, her head is bare, The sun has burnt her coal-black hair; Her eyebrows have a rusty stain, And she came far from over the main. She has a baby on her arm, Or else she were alone: And underneath the hay-stack warm, And on the greenwood stone, She talked and […]
Hart-Leap Well by William Wordsworth
THE Knight had ridden down from Wensley Moor With the slow motion of a summer’s cloud, And now, as he approached a vassal’s door, “Bring forth another horse!” he cried aloud. “Another horse!”–That shout the vassal heard And saddled his best Steed, a comely grey; Sir Walter mounted him; he was the third Which he […]
Hail, Zaragoza! If With Unwet eye by William Wordsworth
HAIL, Zaragoza! If with unwet eye We can approach, thy sorrow to behold, Yet is the heart not pitiless nor cold; Such spectacle demands not tear or sigh. These desolate remains are trophies high Of more than martial courage in the breast Of peaceful civic virtue: they attest Thy matchless worth to all posterity. Blood […]
Hail, Twilight, Sovereign Of One Peaceful Hour by William Wordsworth
HAIL Twilight, sovereign of one peaceful hour! Not dull art Thou as undiscerning Night; But studious only to remove from sight Day’s mutable distinctions.–Ancient Power! Thus did the waters gleam, the mountains lower, To the rude Briton, when, in wolf-skin vest Here roving wild, he laid him down to rest On the bare rock, or […]
Guilt And Sorrow, Or, Incidents Upon Salisbury Plain by William Wordsworth
I A TRAVELLER on the skirt of Sarum’s Plain Pursued his vagrant way, with feet half bare; Stooping his gait, but not as if to gain Help from the staff he bore; for mien and air Were hardy, though his cheek seemed worn with care Both of the time to come, and time long fled: […]
Great Men Have Been Among Us by William Wordsworth
GREAT men have been among us; hands that penned And tongues that uttered wisdom–better none: The later Sidney, Marvel, Harrington, Young Vane, and others who called Milton friend. These moralists could act and comprehend: They knew how genuine glory was put on; Taught us how rightfully nation shone In splendour: what strength was, that would […]
Goody Blake And Harry Gill by William Wordsworth
A True Story OH! what’s the matter? what’s the matter? What is’t that ails young Harry Gill? That evermore his teeth they chatter, Chatter, chatter, chatter still! Of waistcoats Harry has no lack, Good duffle grey, and flannel fine; He has a blanket on his back, And coats enough to smother nine. In March, December, […]
Gipsies by William Wordsworth
YET are they here the same unbroken knot Of human Beings, in the self-same spot! Men, women, children, yea the frame Of the whole spectacle the same! Only their fire seems bolder, yielding light, Now deep and red, the colouring of night; That on their Gipsy-faces falls, Their bed of straw and blanket-walls. –Twelve hours, […]
George and Sarah Green by William Wordsworth
WHO weeps for strangers? Many wept For George and Sarah Green; Wept for that pair’s unhappy fate, Whose grave may here be seen. By night, upon these stormy fells, Did wife and husband roam; Six little ones at home had left, And could not find that home. For ‘any’ dwelling-place of man As vainly did […]
From The Italian Of Michael Angelo by William Wordsworth
YES! hope may with my strong desire keep pace, And I be undeluded, unbetrayed; For if of our affections none finds grace In sight of Heaven, then, wherefore hath God made The world which we inhabit? Better plea Love cannot have, than that in loving thee Glory to that eternal Peace is paid, Who such […]
From The Dark Chambers Of Dejection Freed by William Wordsworth
FROM the dark chambers of dejection freed, Spurning the unprofitable yoke of care, Rise, GILLIES, rise; the gales of youth shall bear Thy genius forward like a winged steed. Though bold Bellerophon (so Jove decreed In wrath) fell headlong from the fields of air, Yet a rich guerdon waits on minds that dare, If aught […]
From The Cuckoo And The Nightingale by William Wordsworth
I The God of Love-“ah, benedicite!” How mighty and how great a Lord is he! For he of low hearts can make high, of high He can make low, and unto death bring nigh; And hard-hearts he can make them kind and free. II Within a little time, as hath been found, He can make […]
Foresight by William Wordsworth
That is work of waste and ruin- Do as Charles and I are doing! Strawberry-blossoms, one and all, We must spare them-here are many: Look at it-the flower is small, Small and low, though fair as any: Do not touch it! summers two I am older, Anne, than you. Pull the primrose, sister Anne! Pull […]
Fidelity by William Wordsworth
A BARKING sound the Shepherd hears, A cry as of a dog or fox; He halts–and searches with his eyes Among the scattered rocks: And now at distance can discern A stirring in a brake of fern; And instantly a dog is seen, Glancing through that covert green. The Dog is not of mountain breed; […]
Feelings Of The Tyrolese by William Wordsworth
THE Land we from our fathers had in trust, And to our children will transmit, or die: This is our maxim, this our piety; And God and Nature say that it is just. That which we ‘would’ perform in arms–we must! We read the dictate in the infant’s eye; In the wife’s smile; and in […]
Feelings Of A Noble Biscayan At One Of Those Funerals by William Wordsworth
YET, yet, Biscayans! we must meet our Foes With firmer soul, yet labour to regain Our ancient freedom; else ’twere worse than vain To gather round the bier these festal shows. A garland fashioned of the pure white rose Becomes not one whose father is a slave: Oh, bear the infant covered to his grave! […]
Feelings of A French Royalist, On The Disinterment Of The Remains Of The Duke D’Enghien by William Wordsworth
DEAR Reliques! from a pit of vilest mould Uprisen–to lodge among ancestral kings; And to inflict shame’s salutary stings On the remorseless hearts of men grown old In a blind worship; men perversely bold Even to this hour,–yet, some shall now forsake Their monstrous Idol if the dead e’er spake, To warn the living; if […]
Extract From The Conclusion Of A Poem Composed In Anticipation Of Leaving School by William Wordsworth
DEAR native regions, I foretell, From what I feel at this farewell, That, wheresoe’er my steps may tend, And whensoe’er my course shall end, If in that hour a single tie Survive of local sympathy, My soul will cast the backward view, The longing look alone on you. Thus, while the Sun sinks down to […]
Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg by William Wordsworth
. When first, descending from the moorlands, I saw the Stream of Yarrow glide Along a bare and open valley, The Ettrick Shepherd was my guide. When last along its banks I wandered, Through groves that had begun to shed Their golden leaves upon the pathways, My steps the Border-minstrel led. The mighty Minstrel breathes […]
Expostulation and Reply by William Wordsworth
Why, William, on that old gray stone, Thus for the length of half a day, Why, William, sit you thus alone, And dream your time away? “Where are your books? – that light bequeathed To Beings else forlorn and blind! Up! up! and drink the spirit breathed From dead men to their kind. “You look […]
Even As A Dragon’s Eye That Feels The Stress by William Wordsworth
EVEN as a dragon’s eye that feels the stress Of a bedimming sleep, or as a lamp Suddenly glaring through sepulchral damp, So burns yon Taper ‘mid a black recess Of mountains, silent, dreary, motionless: The lake below reflects it not; the sky, Muffled in clouds, affords no company To mitigate and cheer its loneliness. […]
Epitaphs Translated From Chiabrera by William Wordsworth
I WEEP not, beloved Friends! nor let the air For me with sighs be troubled. Not from life Have I been taken; this is genuine life And this alone–the life which now I live In peace eternal; where desire and joy Together move in fellowship without end.– Francesco Ceni willed that, after death, His tombstone […]
England! The Time Is Come When Thou Should’st Wean by William Wordsworth
ENGLAND! the time is come when thou should’st wean Thy heart from its emasculating food; The truth should now be better understood; Old things have been unsettled; we have seen Fair seed-time, better harvest might have been But for thy trespasses; and, at this day, If for Greece, Egypt, India, Africa, Aught good were destined, […]
Emperors And Kings, How Oft Have Temples Rung by William Wordsworth
EMPERORS and Kings, how oft have temples rung With impious thanksgiving, the Almighty’s scorn! How oft above their altars have been hung Trophies that led the good and wise to mourn Triumphant wrong, battle of battle born, And sorrow that to fruitless sorrow clung! Now, from Heaven-sanctioned victory, Peace is sprung; In this firm hour […]
Ellen Irwin Or The Braes Of Kirtle by William Wordsworth
FAIR Ellen Irwin, when she sate Upon the braes of Kirtle, Was lovely as a Grecian maid Adorned with wreaths of myrtle; Young Adam Bruce beside her lay, And there did they beguile the day With love and gentle speeches, Beneath the budding beeches. From many knights and many squires The Bruce had been selected; […]
Elegiac Stanzas Suggested By A Picture Of Peele Castle by William Wordsworth
I was thy neighbour once, thou rugged Pile! Four summer weeks I dwelt in sight of thee: I saw thee every day; and all the while Thy Form was sleeping on a glassy sea. So pure the sky, so quiet was the air! So like, so very like, was day to day! Whene’er I looked, […]
Dion [See Plutarch] by William Wordsworth
Serene, and fitted to embrace, Where’er he turned, a swan-like grace Of haughtiness without pretence, And to unfold a still magnificence, Was princely Dion, in the power And beauty of his happier hour. And what pure homage then did wait On Dion’s virtues, while the lunar beam Of Plato’s genius, from its lofty sphere, Fell […]
Crusaders by William Wordsworth
FURL we the sails, and pass with tardy oars Through these bright regions, casting many a glance Upon the dream-like issues–the romance Of many-coloured life that Fortune pours Round the Crusaders, till on distant shores Their labours end; or they return to lie, The vow performed, in cross-legged effigy, Devoutly stretched upon their chancel floors. […]
Composed While The Author Was Engaged In Writing A Tract Occasioned By The Convention Of Cintra by William Wordsworth
NOT ‘mid the world’s vain objects that enslave The free-born Soul–that World whose vaunted skill In selfish interest perverts the will, Whose factions lead astray the wise and brave– Not there; but in dark wood and rocky cave, And hollow vale which foaming torrents fill With omnipresent murmur as they rave Down their steep beds, […]
Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 by William Wordsworth
Earth has not anything to show more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty: This City now doth, like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky; […]
Composed on The Eve Of The Marriage Of A Friend In The Vale Of Grasmere by William Wordsworth
WHAT need of clamorous bells, or ribands gay, These humble nuptials to proclaim or grace? Angels of love, look down upon the place; Shed on the chosen vale a sun-bright day! Yet no proud gladness would the Bride display Even for such promise:–serious is her face, Modest her mien; and she, whose thoughts keep pace […]
Composed Near Calais, On The Road Leading To Ardres, August 7, 1802 by William Wordsworth
JONES! as from Calais southward you and I Went pacing side by side, this public Way Streamed with the pomp of a too-credulous day, When faith was pledged to new-born Liberty: A homeless sound of joy was in the sky: From hour to hour the antiquated Earth Beat like the heart of Man: songs, garlands, […]
Composed In The Valley Near Dover, On The Day Of Landing by William Wordsworth
HERE, on our native soil, we breathe once more. The cock that crows, the smoke that curls, that sound Of bells; those boys who in yon meadow-ground In white-sleeved shirts are playing; and the roar Of the waves breaking on the chalky shore;– All, all are English. Oft have I looked round With joy in […]
Composed During A Storm by William Wordsworth
One who was suffering tumult in his soul, Yet failed to seek the sure relief of prayer, Went forth-his course surrendering to the care Of the fierce wind, while mid-day lightnings prowl Insidiously, untimely thunders growl; While trees, dim-seen, in frenzied numbers, tear The lingering remnant of their yellow hair, And shivering wolves, surprised with […]
Composed By The Side Of Grasmere Lake 1806 by William Wordsworth
CLOUDS, lingering yet, extend in solid bars Through the grey west; and lo! these waters, steeled By breezeless air to smoothest polish, yield A vivid repetition of the stars; Jove, Venus, and the ruddy crest of Mars Amid his fellows beauteously revealed At happy distance from earth’s groaning field, Where ruthless mortals wage incessant wars. […]