William Wordsworth

"The gentlest Shade that walked Elysian plains Might sometimes covet dissoluble chains; Even for the tenants of the zone that lies Beyond the stars,"

"Lady! I rifled a Parnassian Cave (But seldom trod) of mildly-gleaming ore; And culled, from sundry beds, a lucid store Of genuine crystals, pur"

"But, to remote Northumbria's royal Hall, Where thoughtful Edwin, tutored in the school Of sorrow, still maintains a heathen rule, 'Who' comes w"

"Men of the Western World! in Fate's dark book Whence these opprobrious leaves of dire portent? Think ye your British Ancestors forsook Their na"

"I Where art thou, my beloved Son, Where art thou, worse to me than dead? Oh find me, prosperous or undone! Or, if the grave be now thy bed, Why"

"Rude is this Edifice, and Thou hast seen Buildings, albeit rude, that have maintained Proportions more harmonious, and approached To closer fell"

"'A poet'! He hath put his heart to school, Nor dares to move unpropped upon the staff Which Art hath lodged within his hand must laugh By prece"

"Near The Outlet Of The Lake Of Thun "Dem Andenken Meines Freundes Aloys Reding MDCCCXVIII." Around a wild and woody hill A gravelled"

"Calvert! it must not be unheard by them Who may respect my name, that I to thee Owed many years of early liberty. This care was thine when sickness"

"Ye Apennines! with all your fertile vales Deeply embosomed, and your winding shores Of either sea an Islander by birth, A Mountaineer by habit,"

""Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks In Vallombrosa where Etrurian shades High over-arch'd embower." - Paradise Lost. "Vallombrosa,"

"As It Appeared To Enthusiasts At Its Commencement. Reprinted From "The Friend" Oh! pleasant exercise of hope and joy! For mighty were the auxilia"

"Intrepid sons of Albion! not by you Is life despised; ah no, the spacious earth Ne'er saw a race who held, by right of birth, So many objects to wh"

"At early dawn, or rather when the air Glimmers with fading light, and shadowy Eve Is busiest to confer and to bereave; Then, pensive Votary! le"

"Let us quit the leafy arbor, And the torrent murmuring by; For the sun is in his harbor, Weary of the open sky. Evening now unbinds the fetters"

"A volant Tribe of Bards on earth are found, Who, while the flattering Zephyrs round them play, On "coignes of vantage" hang their nests of clay;"

"Though I beheld at first with blank surprise This Work, I now have gazed on it so long I see its truth with unreluctant eyes; O, my Beloved! I"

"Lowther! in thy majestic Pile are seen Cathedral pomp and grace, in apt accord With the baronial castle's sterner mien; Union significant of Go"

"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 fact"

"Thus is the storm abated by the craft Of a shrewd Counselor, eager to protect The Church, whose power hath recently been checked, Whose monstro"

"All praise the Likeness by thy skill portrayed; But 'tis a fruitless task to paint for me, Who, yielding not to changes Time has made, By the h"

"Days undefiled by luxury or sloth, Firm self-denial, manners grave and staid, Rights equal, laws with cheerfulness obeyed, Words that require n"

"'Tis not for the unfeeling, the falsely refined, The squeamish in taste, and the narrow of mind, And the small critic wielding his delicate pen, Th"

"Now when the primrose makes a splendid show, And lilies face the March-winds in full blow, And humbler growths as moved with one desire Put on,"

"Two Voices are there; one is of the sea, One of the mountains; each a mighty Voice: In both from age to age thou didst rejoice, They were thy chose"

"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"

"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"

"From Recollections of Early Childhood The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety. I T"

"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"

"BOOKS When Contemplation, like the night-calm felt Through earth and sky, spreads widely, and sends deep Into the soul its tranquillising power,"

"The Vested Priest before the Altar stands; Approach, come gladly, ye prepared, in sight Of God and chosen friends, your troth to plight With th"

"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"

"The days are cold, the nights are long, The north-wind sings a doleful song; Then hush again upon my breast; All merry things are now at rest, Sav"

"She dwelt among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove, A Maid whom there were none to praise And very few to love: A violet by a mossy st"

"The imperial Consort of the Fairy-king Owns not a sylvan bower; or gorgeous cell With emerald floored, and with purpureal shell Ceilinged and r"

"From early youth I ploughed the restless Main, My mind as restless and as apt to change; Through every clime and ocean did I range, In hope at"

"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, chatt"

"SEVEN YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH I shiver, Spirit fierce and bold, At thought of what I now behold: As vapours breathed from dungeons cold, Strike"

"The minstrels played their Christmas tune To-night beneath my cottage-eaves; While, smitten by a lofty moon, The encircling laurels, thick with lea"

"A point of life between my Parent's dust, And yours, my buried Little-ones! am I; And to those graves looking habitually In kindred quiet I rep"

"Surprised by joy, impatient as the Wind I turned to share the transport O! with whom But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb, That spot which no v"

"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,"

"A genial hearth, a hospitable board, And a refined rusticity, belong To the neat mansion, where, his flock among, The learned Pastor dwells, th"

"RESIDENCE IN FRANCE Even as a river, partly (it might seem) Yielding to old remembrances, and swayed In part by fear to shape a way direct, That"

"I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside th"

"From low to high doth dissolution climb, And sink from high to low, along a scale Of awful notes, whose concord shall not fail; A musical but m"

"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"

"But what if One, through grove or flowery mead, Indulging thus at will the creeping feet Of a voluptuous indolence, should meet Thy hovering Sh"

"There's George Fisher, Charles Fleming, and Reginald Shore, Three rosy-cheeked school-boys, the highest not more Than the height of a counsellor's b"

"Stay near me, do not take thy flight! A little longer stay in sight! Much converse do I find I thee, Historian of my infancy! Float near me; do no"

"Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray: And, when I crossed the wild, I chanced to see at break of day The solitary child. No mate, no comrade Lucy kn"

"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 cho"

"Hunger, and sultry heat, and nipping blast From bleak hill-top, and length of march by night Through heavy swamp, or over snow-clad height, These h"

"And is this, Yarrow? 'This' the Stream Of which my fancy cherished, So faithfully, a waking dream? An image that hath perished! O that some M"

"Where lies the truth? has Man, in wisdom's creed, A pitiable doom; for respite brief A care more anxious, or a heavier grief? Is he ungrateful,"

"Nay, Traveller! rest. This lonely Yew-tree stands Far from all human dwelling: what if here No sparkling rivulet spread the verdant herb? What if t"

"Jam non consilio bonus, sed more eo perductus, ut non tantum recte facere possim, sed nisi recte facere non possim (Seneca, Letters 130.10) Ster"

"Glory to God! and to the Power who came In filial duty, clothed with love divine, That made his human tabernacle shine Like Ocean burning with"

"Praised be the Rivers, from their mountain springs Shouting to Freedom, "Plant thy banners here!" To harassed Piety, "Dismiss thy fear, And in"

"O for the help of Angels to complete This Temple, Angels governed by a plan Thus far pursued (how gloriously!) by Man, Studious that He might n"