William Wordsworth

"Yes, if the intensities of hope and fear Attract us still, and passionate exercise Of lofty thoughts, the way before us lies Distinct with sign"

"There is an Eminence, of these our hills The last that parleys with the setting sun; We can behold it from our orchard-seat; And, when at evenin"

"Vallombrosa! I longed in thy shadiest wood To slumber, reclined on the moss-covered floor, To listen to Anio's precipitous flood, When the stil"

"'Tis eight o'clock, a clear March night, The moon is up, the sky is blue, The owlet, in the moonlight air, Shouts from nobody knows where; He"

"Where holy ground begins, unhallowed ends, Is marked by no distinguishable line; The turf unites, the pathways intertwine; And, wheresoe'er the"

"Forth from a jutting ridge, around whose base Winds our deep Vale, two heath-clad Rocks ascend In fellowship, the loftiest of the pair Rising t"

"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"

"By playful smiles, (alas! too oft A sad heart's sunshine, by a soft And gentle nature, and a free Yet modest hand of charity, Through life wa"

""Thou look'st upon me, and dost fondly think, Poet! that, stricken as both are by years, We, differing once so much, are now Compeers, Prepared"

"How art thou named? In search of what strange land From what huge height, descending? Can such force Of waters issue from a British source, Or"

"'There is a pleasure in poetic pains Which only Poets know'; 'twas rightly said; Whom could the Muses else allure to tread Their smoothest path"

"List, the winds of March are blowing; Her ground-flowers shrink, afraid of showing Their meek heads to the nipping air, Which ye feel not, happ"

"Aerial Rock, whose solitary brow From this low threshold daily meets my sight; When I step forth to hail the morning light; Or quit the stars w"

"Theres not a nook within this solemn Pass, But were an apt confessional for one Taught by his summer spent, his autumn gone, That Life is but a ta"

"The lovely Nun (submissive, but more meek Through saintly habit than from effort due To unrelenting mandates that pursue With equal wrath the s"

"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 wit"

"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"

"The star which comes at close of day to shine More heavenly bright than when it leads the morn, Is friendship's emblem, whether the forlorn She"

"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,"

"Glad sight wherever new with old Is joined through some dear homeborn tie; The life of all that we behold Depends upon that mystery. Vain is"

"Take, cradled Nursling of the mountain, take This parting glance, no negligent adieu! A Protean change seems wrought while I pursue The curves,"

"Days passed and Monte Calvo would not clear His head from mist; and, as the wind sobbed through Albano's dripping Ilex avenue, My dull forebodi"

"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 Minstrel"

"Avaunt all specious pliancy of mind In men of low degree, all smooth pretense! I better like a blunt indifference, And self-respecting slowness, di"

"I heard a thousand blended notes, While in a grove I sate reclined, In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts Bring sad thoughts to the mind. To"

"The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed If Thou the spirit give by which I pray: My unassisted heart is barren clay, That of its native self c"

"Tenderly do we feel by Nature's law For worst offenders: though the heart will heave With indignation, deeply moved we grieve, In after thought"

"A trouble, not of clouds, or weeping rain, Nor of the setting sun's pathetic light Engendered, hangs o'er Eildon's triple height: Spirits of Po"

"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 melan"

"With ships the sea was sprinkled far and nigh, Like stars in heaven, and joyously it showed; Some lying fast at anchor in the road, Some veering up"

"Grief, thou hast lost an ever-ready friend Now that the cottage Spinning-wheel is mute; And Care, a comforter that best could suit Her froward"

"Troubled long with warring notions Long impatient of thy rod, I resign my soul's emotions Unto Thee, mysterious God! What avails the kindly"

"A book came forth of late, called PETER BELL; Not negligent the style; the matter? good As aught that song records of Robin Hood; Or Roy, renow"

""What know we of the Blest above But that they sing and that they love?" Yet, if they ever did inspire A mortal hymn, or shaped the choir, No"

"While Merlin paced the Cornish sands, Forth-looking toward the rocks of Scilly, The pleased Enchanter was aware Of a bright Ship that seemed to"

"Once more the Church is seized with sudden fear, And at her call is Wicliffe disinhumed: Yea, his dry bones to ashes are consumed And flung int"

"Something must now be said of this poem, but chiefly, as has been done through the whole of these notes, with reference to my personal friends, and es"

"Coldly we spake. The Saxons, overpowered By wrong triumphant through its own excess, From fields laid waste, from house and home devoured By fl"

"[In the vale of Grasmere, by the side of an old highway leading to Ambleside, is a gate, which, from time out of mind, has been called the Wishing-g"

"Fond words have oft been spoken to thee, Sleep! And thou hast had thy store of tenderest names; The very sweetest, Fancy culls or frames, When than"

"In my mind's eye a Temple, like a cloud Slowly surmounting some invidious hill, Rose out of darkness: the bright Work stood still: And might of"

"Strange fits of passion have I known: And I will dare to tell, But in the lover's ear alone, What once to me befell. When she I loved looked ever"

"In Presence Of The Painted Tower Of Tell, At Altorf. What though the Italian pencil wrought not here, Nor such fine skill as did the meed bestow"

"Ye brood of conscience Spectres! that frequent The bad Man's restless walk, and haunt his bed Fiends in your aspect, yet beneficent In act, as"

"In Bruges town is many a street Whence busy life hath fled; Where, without hurry, noiseless feet The grass-grown pavement tread. There heard"

"Whence that low voice? A whisper from the heart, That told of days long past, when here I roved With friends and kindred tenderly beloved; Some"

"Who ponders National events shall find An awful balancing of loss and gain, Joy based on sorrow, good with ill combined, And proud deliverance"

"Though the torrents from their fountains Roar down many a craggy steep, Yet they find among the mountains Resting-places calm and deep. Clouds th"

"Lady! a Pen (perhaps with thy regard, Among the Favoured, favoured not the least) Left, 'mid the Records of this Book inscribed, Deliberate tra"

"When Ruth was left half desolate, Her Father took another Mate; And Ruth, not seven years old, A slighted child, at her own will Went wandering ov"

"Driven in by Autumn's sharpening air From half-stripped woods and pastures bare, Brisk Robin seeks a kindlier home: Not like a beggar is he com"

"A weight of awe, not easy to be borne, Fell suddenly upon my Spirit cast From the dread bosom of the unknown past, When first I saw that family"

"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 sou"

"Inland, within a hollow vale, I stood; And saw, while sea was calm and air was clear, The coast of France, the coast of France how near! Drawn"

"It is not to be thought of that the flood Of British freedom, which, to the open sea Of the worlds praise, from dark antiquity Hath flowd, with"

"'The oppression of the tumult, wrath and scorn The tribulation and the gleaming blades' Such is the impetuous spirit that pervades The song of"

"The world forsaken, all its busy cares And stirring interests shunned with desperate flight, All trust abandoned in the healing might Of virtuo"

"Humanity, delighting to behold A fond reflection of her own decay, Hath painted Winter like a traveller old, Propped on a staff, and, through the s"

"A plague on your languages, German and Norse! Let me have the song of the kettle; And the tongs and the poker, instead of that horse That gallop"

"Even so for me a Vision sanctified The sway of Death; long ere mine eyes had seen Thy countenance, the still rapture of thy mien When thou, dea"