Book Fourth [Summer Vacation] by William Wordsworth
BRIGHT was the summer’s noon when quickening steps Followed each other till a dreary moor Was crossed, a bare ridge clomb, upon whose top Standing alone, as from a rampart’s edge, I overlooked the bed of Windermere, Like a vast river, stretching in the sun. With exultation, at my feet I saw Lake, islands, promontories, […]
Book Fourteenth [conclusion] by William Wordsworth
In one of those excursions (may they ne’er Fade from remembrance!) through the Northern tracts Of Cambria ranging with a youthful friend, I left Bethgelert’s huts at couching-time, And westward took my way, to see the sun Rise, from the top of Snowdon. To the door Of a rude cottage at the mountain’s base We […]
Book First [Introduction-Childhood and School Time] by William Wordsworth
OH there is blessing in this gentle breeze, A visitant that while it fans my cheek Doth seem half-conscious of the joy it brings From the green fields, and from yon azure sky. Whate’er its mission, the soft breeze can come To none more grateful than to me; escaped From the vast city, where I […]
Book Fifth-Books by William Wordsworth
WHEN Contemplation, like the night-calm felt Through earth and sky, spreads widely, and sends deep Into the soul its tranquillising power, Even then I sometimes grieve for thee, O Man, Earth’s paramount Creature! not so much for woes That thou endurest; heavy though that weight be, Cloud-like it mounts, or touched with light divine Doth […]
Book Eleventh: France [concluded] by William Wordsworth
FROM that time forth, Authority in France Put on a milder face; Terror had ceased, Yet everything was wanting that might give Courage to them who looked for good by light Of rational Experience, for the shoots And hopeful blossoms of a second spring: Yet, in me, confidence was unimpaired; The Senate’s language, and the […]
Book Eighth: Retrospect–Love Of Nature Leading To Love Of Man by William Wordsworth
WHAT sounds are those, Helvellyn, that are heard Up to thy summit, through the depth of air Ascending, as if distance had the power To make the sounds more audible? What crowd Covers, or sprinkles o’er, yon village green? Crowd seems it, solitary hill! to thee, Though but a little family of men, Shepherds and […]
“Behold Vale! I Said, When I Shall Con” by William Wordsworth
“Beloved Vale!” I said, “when I shall con Those many records of my childish years, Remembrance of myself and of my peers Will press me down: to think of what is gone Will be an awful thought, if life have one.” But, when into the Vale I came, no fears Distressed me; from mine eyes […]
Beggars by William Wordsworth
She had a tall man’s height or more; Her face from summer’s noontide heat No bonnet shaded, but she wore A mantle, to her very feet Descending with a graceful flow, And on her head a cap as white as new-fallen snow. Her skin was of Egyptian brown: Haughty, as if her eye had seen […]
“Avaunt All Specious Pliancy Of Mind” by William Wordsworth
AVAUNT all specious pliancy of mind In men of low degree, all smooth pretence! I better like a blunt indifference, And self-respecting slowness, disinclined To win me at first sight: and be there joined Patience and temperance with this high reserve, Honour that knows the path and will not swerve; Affections, which, if put to […]
At Applewaite, Near Keswick 1804 by William Wordsworth
BEAUMONT! it was thy wish that I should rear A seemly Cottage in this sunny Dell, On favoured ground, thy gift, where I might dwell In neighbourhood with One to me most dear, That undivided we from year to year Might work in our high Calling-a bright hope To which our fancies, mingling, gave free […]
” As faith thus sanctified the warrior’s crest” by William Wordsworth
As faith thus sanctified the warrior’s crest While from the Papal Unity there came, What feebler means had failed to give, one aim Diffused thro’ all the regions of the West; So does her Unity its power attest By works of Art, that shed, on the outward frame Of worship, glory and grace, which who […]
Artegal And Elidure by William Wordsworth
WHERE be the temples which, in Britain’s Isle, For his paternal Gods, the Trojan raised? Gone like a morning dream, or like a pile Of clouds that in cerulean ether blazed! Ere Julius landed on her white-cliffed shore, They sank, delivered o’er To fatal dissolution; and, I ween, No vestige then was left that such […]
Anticipation, October 1803 by William Wordsworth
SHOUT, for a mighty Victory is won! On British ground the Invaders are laid low; The breath of Heaven has drifted them like snow, And left them lying in the silent sun, Never to rise again!-the work is done. Come forth, ye old men, now in peaceful show And greet your sons! drums beat and […]
Animal Tranquility And Decay by William Wordsworth
The little hedgerow birds, That peck along the roads, regard him not. He travels on, and in his face, his step, His gait, is one expression: every limb, His look and bending figure, all bespeak A man who does not move with pain, but moves With thought.-He is insensibly subdued To settled quiet: he is […]
Anecdote For Fathers by William Wordsworth
I HAVE a boy of five years old; His face is fair and fresh to see; His limbs are cast in beauty’s mold And dearly he loves me. One morn we strolled on our dry walk, Or quiet home all full in view, And held such intermitted talk As we are wont to do. My […]
Andrew Jones by William Wordsworth
I HATE that Andrew Jones; he’ll breed His children up to waste and pillage. I wish the press-gang or the drum With its tantara sound would come, And sweep him from the village! I said not this, because he loves Through the long day to swear and tipple; But for the poor dear sake of […]
“And Is It Among Rude Untutored Dales” by William Wordsworth
AND is it among rude untutored Dales, There, and there only, that the heart is true? And, rising to repel or to subdue, Is it by rocks and woods that man prevails? Ah no! though Nature’s dread protection fails, There is a bulwark in the soul. This knew Iberian Burghers when the sword they drew […]
An Evening Walk by William Wordsworth
Addressed To A Young Lady FAR from my dearest Friend, ’tis mine to rove Through bare grey dell, high wood, and pastoral cove; Where Derwent rests, and listens to the roar That stuns the tremulous cliffs of high Lodore; Where peace to Grasmere’s lonely island leads, To willowy hedge-rows, and to emerald meads; Leads to […]
Among All Lovely Things My Love Had Been by William Wordsworth
AMONG all lovely things my Love had been; Had noted well the stars, all flowers that grew About her home; but she had never seen A glow-worm, never one, and this I knew. While riding near her home one stormy night A single glow-worm did I chance to espy; I gave a fervent welcome to […]
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 […]
What Reward? by Winifred Mary Letts
You gave your life. Boy. And you gave a limb: But he who gave his precious wits, Say, what regard for him? One had his glory, One has found his rest. But what of this poor babbler here With chin sunk on his breast? Flotsam of battle, With brain bemused and dim, O God, for […]
To A Soldier In Hospital by Winifred Mary Letts
Courage came to you with your boyhood’s grace Of ardent life and limb. Each day new dangers steeled you to the test, To ride, to climb, to swim. Your hot blood taught you carelessness of death With every breath. So when you went to play another game You could not but be brave: An Empire’s […]
To A May Baby by Winifred Mary Letts
To come at tulip time how wise! Perhaps you will not now regret The shining gardens, jewel set, Of your first home in Paradise Nor fret Because you might not quite forget. To come at swallow-time how wise! When every bird has built a nest; Now you may fold your wings and rest And watch […]
Tim, An Irish Terrier by Winifred Mary Letts
It’s wonderful dogs they’re breeding now: Small as a flea or large as a cow; But my old lad Tim he’ll never be bet By any dog that he ever met, Come on ‘says he’for I’m not kilt yet! No matter the size of the dog he’ll meet, Tim trails his coat the length o’the […]
The Spires Of Oxford by Winifred Mary Letts
I saw the spires of Oxford As I was passing by, The gray spires of Oxford Against the pearl-gray sky. My heart was with the Oxford men Who went abroad to die. The years go fast in Oxford, The golden years and gay, The hoary Colleges look down On careless boys at play. But when […]