Skip to content
Linespedia

The Power Of Armies Is A Visible Thing

By William Wordsworth

Topics: classic

The power of Armies is a visible thing, Formal and circumscribed in time and space; But who the limits of that power shall trace Which a brave People into light can bring Or hide, at will, for freedom combating By just revenge inflamed? No foot may chase, No eye can follow, to a fatal place That power, that spirit, whether on the wing Like the strong wind, or sleeping like the wind Within its awful caves. From year to year Springs this indigenous produce far and near; No craft this subtle element can bind, Rising like water from the soil, to find In every nook a lip that it may cheer.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"The power of Armies is a visible thing,..."

William Wordsworth's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "The Power Of Armies Is A Visible Thing"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:William Wordsworth

Public Domain: This work is in the public domain and free to use.

"The power of Armies is a visible thing,..." by William Wordsworth

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"Dear to the Loves, and to the Graces vowed, The Queen drew back the wimple that she wore; And to the throng, that on the Cumbrian shore Her lan"

"INTRODUCTION AND CHORUS For thirst of power that Heaven disowns, For temples, towers, and thrones, Too long insulted by the Spoiler's shock,"

"How beautiful the Queen of Night, on high Her way pursuing among scattered clouds, Where, ever and anon, her head she shrouds Hidden from view"

"A bright-haired company of youthful slaves, Beautiful strangers, stand within the pale Of a sad market, ranged for public sale, Where Tiber's s"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

William Wordsworth

About William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth (1770–1850) was an English Romantic poet who launched the movement with Samuel Taylor Coleridge in "Lyrical Ballads" (1798). His poems—including "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" and "Tintern Abbey"—championed nature, memory, and the language of common speech.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"Dear to the Loves, and to the Graces vowed, The Q..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.