William Wordsworth

"An Orpheus! an Orpheus! yes, Faith may grow bold, And take to herself all the wonders of old; Near the stately Pantheon you'll meet with the same I"

"Harmonious Powers with Nature work On sky, earth, river, lake and sea; Sunshine and cloud, whirlwind and breeze, All in one duteous task agree."

"The most alluring clouds that mount the sky Owe to a troubled element their forms, Their hues to sunset. If with raptured eye We watch their sp"

"Lulled by the sound of pastoral bells, Rude Nature's Pilgrims did we go, From the dread summit of the Queen Of mountains, through a deep ravine,"

"Amid the smoke of cities did you pass The time of early youth; and there you learned, From years of quiet industry, to love The living Beings by yo"

"INTRODUCTION CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL-TIME Oh there is blessing in this gentle breeze, A visitant that while it fans my cheek Doth seem half-conscious"

""With sacrifice before the rising morn Vows have I made by fruitless hope inspired; And from the infernal Gods, 'mid shades forlorn Of night, m"

"The fields which with covetous spirit we sold, Those beautiful fields, the delight of the day, Would have brought us more good than a burthen of gol"

"Far from our home by Grasmere's quiet Lake, From the Vale's peace which all her fields partake, Here on the bleakest point of Cumbria's shore W"

"Go back to antique ages, if thine eyes The genuine mien and character would trace Of the rash Spirit that still holds her place, Prompting the"

"'Weak is the will of Man, his judgment blind; 'Remembrance persecutes, and Hope betrays; 'Heavy is woe; and joy, for human-kind, 'A mournful thing,"

"Fair Lady! can I sing of flowers That in Madeira bloom and fade, I who ne'er sate within their bowers, Nor through their sunny lawns have stray"

"I I am not One who much or oft delight To season my fireside with personal talk. Of friends, who live within an easy walk, Or neighbours, daily,"

"The pibroch's note, discountenanced or mute; The Roman kilt, degraded to a toy Of quaint apparel for a half-spoilt boy; The target mouldering l"

"Nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room; And hermits are contented with their cells; And students with their pensive citadels; Maids at the wh"

"When Philoctetes in the Lemnian isle Like a form sculptured on a monument Lay couched; on him or his dread bow unbent Some wild Bird oft might"

"Lie here, without a record of thy worth, Beneath a covering of the common earth! It is not from unwillingness to praise, Or want of love, that here"

"Nuns fret not at their convents narrow room, And hermits are contented with their cells, And students with their pensive citadels; Maids at the wh"

"Toussaint, the most unhappy man of men! Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough Within thy hearing, or thy head be now Pillowed in some deep d"

"My heart leaps up when I behold A Rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or l"

"Ah, when the Body, round which in love we clung, Is chilled by death, does mutual service fail? Is tender pity then of no avail? Are intercessi"

"O Mountain Stream! the Shepherd and his Cot Are privileged Inmates of deep solitude; Nor would the nicest Anchorite exclude A field or two of b"

"Dogmatic Teachers, of the snow-white fur! Ye wrangling Schoolmen, of the scarlet hood! Who, with a keenness not to be withstood, Press the poin"

"I met Louisa in the shade, And, having seen that lovely Maid, Why should I fear to say That, nymph-like, she is fleet and strong, And down the roc"

"Darkness surrounds us; seeking, we are lost On Snowdon's wilds, amid Brigantian coves, Or where the solitary shepherd roves Along the plain of"

"Father! to God himself we cannot give A holier name! then lightly do not bear Both names conjoined, but of thy spiritual care Be duly mindful:"

"The Kirk of Ulpha to the pilgrim's eye Is welcome as a star, that doth present Its shining forehead through the peaceful rent Of a black cloud"

"Where towers are crushed, and unforbidden weeds O'er mutilated arches shed their seeds; And temples, doomed to milder change, unfold A new magn"

"A stream, to mingle with your favourite Dee, Along the vale of meditation flows; So styled by those fierce Britons, pleased to see In Nature's"

"They called Thee Merry England, in old time; A happy people won for thee that name With envy heard in many a distant clime; And, spite of chang"

"Blest Statesman He, whose Mind's unselfish will Leaves him at ease among grand thoughts: whose eye Sees that, apart from magnanimity, Wisdom ex"

"Why comes not Francis? From the doleful City He fled, and, in his flight, could hear The death-sounds of the Minster-bell: That sullen stroke prono"

"As star that shines dependent upon star Is to the sky while we look up and love; As to the deep fair ships which though they move Seem fixed, t"

"Mercy and Love have met thee on thy road, Thou wretched Outcast, from the gift of fire And food cut off by sacerdotal ire, From every sympathy"

"Where lies the Land to which yon Ship must go? Fresh as a lark mounting at break of day, Festively she puts forth in trim array; Is she for tropic"

"Despond who will, 'I' heard a voice exclaim, "Though fierce the assault, and shattered the defense, It cannot be that Britain's social frame, T"

"Stranger! this hillock of mis-shapen stones Is not a Ruin spared or made by time, Nor, as perchance thou rashly deem'st, the Cairn Of some old Brit"

"Three years she grew in sun and shower, Then Nature said, A lovelier flower On earth was never sown; This Child I to myself will take; She shall"

"A poet! He hath put his heart to school, Nor dares to move unpropped upon the staff Which art hath lodged within his handmust laugh By precept onl"

"Sacred Religion! "mother of form and fear," Dread arbitress of mutable respect, New rites ordaining when the old are wrecked, Or cease to pleas"

"The sun has long been set, The stars are out by twos and threes, The little birds are piping yet Among the bushes and the trees; There's a cuckoo,"

"What mischief cleaves to unsubdued regret, How fancy sickens by vague hopes beset; How baffled projects on the spirit prey, And fruitless wishe"

"Monastic Domes! following my downward way, Untouched by due regret I marked your fall! Now, ruin, beauty, ancient stillness, all Dispose to jud"

"The floods are roused, and will not soon be weary; Down from the Pennine Alps how fiercely sweeps Croglin, the stately Eden's tributary! He rav"

"This Lawn, a carpet all alive With shadows flung from leaves, to strive In dance, amid a press Of sunshine, an apt emblem yields Of Worldling"

"To appease the Gods; or public thanks to yield; Or to solicit knowledge of events, Which in her breast Futurity concealed; And that the past mi"

"Not envying Latian shades, if yet they throw A grateful coolness round that crystal Spring, Blandusia, prattling as when long ago The Sabine Ba"

"I dropped my pen; and listened to the Wind That sang of trees uptorn and vessels tost A midnight harmony; and wholly lost To the general sense of m"

""Magistratus indicat virum" Lonsdale! it were unworthy of a Guest, Whose heart with gratitude to thee inclines, If he should speak, by fancy to"

"I've watched you now a full half-hour; Self-poised upon that yellow flower And, little Butterfly! indeed I know not if you sleep or feed. How"

"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"

"Enough of garlands, of the Arcadian crook, And all that Greece and Italy have sung Of Swains reposing myrtle groves among! 'Ours' couch on nake"

"Fair Star of evening, Splendour of the west, Star of my Country! on the horizon's brink Thou hangest, stooping, as might seem, to sink On England's"

"Not hurled precipitous from steep to steep; Lingering no more 'mid flower-enameled lands And blooming thickets; nor by rocky bands Held; but in"

"Hark! 'tis the Thrush, undaunted, undeprest, By twilight premature of cloud and rain; Nor does that roaring wind deaden his strain Who carols t"

"Through narrow be that old Man's cares, and near, The poor old Man is greater than he seems: For he hath waking empire, wide as dreams; An ample so"

"How beautiful your presence, how benign, Servants of God! who not a thought will share With the vain world; who, outwardly as bare As winter tr"

"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 Th"

"Six thousand veterans practised in war's game, Tried men, at Killicranky were arrayed Against an equal host that wore the plaid, Shepherds and herd"

"Forgive, illustrious Country! these deep sighs, Heaved less for thy bright plains and hills bestrown With monuments decayed or overthrown, For"