William Wordsworth

"CAMBRIDGE AND THE ALPS The leaves were fading when to Esthwaite's banks And the simplicities of cottage life I bade farewell; and, one among the y"

"Enough of climbing toil! Ambition treads Here, as 'mid busier scenes, ground steep and rough, Or slippery even to peril! and each step, As we for m"

"FRANCE (concluded) From that time forth, Authority in France Put on a milder face; Terror had ceased, Yet everything was wanting that might give"

"Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned, Mindless of its just honours; with this key Shakespeare unlocked his heart; the melody Of this smal"

"Harp! could'st thou venture, on thy boldest string, The faintest note to echo which the blast Caught from the hand of Moses as it passed O'er S"

"Swiftly turn the murmuring wheel! Night has brought the welcome hour, When the weary fingers feel Help, as if from faery power; Dewy night o'ersha"

"Desponding Father! mark this altered bough, So beautiful of late, with sunshine warmed, Or moist with dews; what more unsightly now, Its blosso"

"But here no cannon thunders to the gale; Upon the wave no haughty pendants cast A crimson splendour: lowly is the mast That rises here, and hum"

"PART SECOND We left our Hero in a trance, Beneath the alders, near the river; The Ass is by the river-side, And, where the feeble breezes gl"

"I Hail, orient Conqueror of gloomy Night! Thou that canst shed the bliss of gratitude On hearts howe'er insensible or rude; Whether thy punctual"

"And, not in vain embodied to the sight, Religion finds even in the stern retreat Of feudal sway her own appropriate seat; From the collegiate p"

"There is a little unpretending Rill Of limpid water, humbler far than aught That ever among Men or Naiads sought Notice or name! It quivers dow"

"With each recurrence of this glorious morn That saw the Saviour in his human frame Rise from the dead, 'erewhile the Cottage-dame Put on fresh"

"The feudal Keep, the bastions of Cohorn, Even when they rose to check or to repel Tides of aggressive war, oft served as well Greedy ambition,"

"'Tis He whose yester-evening's high disdain Beat back the roaring storm, but how subdued His day-break note, a sad vicissitude! Does the hour's"

"Scattering, like birds escaped the fowler's net, Some seek with timely flight a foreign strand; Most happy, re-assembled in a land By dauntless"

"If to Tradition faith be due, And echoes from old verse speak true, Ere the meek Saint, Columba, bore Glad tidings to Iona's shore, No common ligh"

"Redoubted King, of courage leonine, I mark thee, Richard! urgent to equip Thy warlike person with the staff and scrip; I watch thee sailing o'e"

""What is good for a bootless bene?" With these dark words begins my Tale; And their meaning is, whence can comfort spring When Prayer is of no avai"

"The woman-hearted Confessor prepares The evanescence of the Saxon line. Hark! 'tis the tolling Curfew! the stars shine; But of the lights that"

"At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears, Hangs a Thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years: Poor Susan has passed by the spot,"

"I The God of Love "ah, benedicite!" How mighty and how great a Lord is he! For he of low hearts can make high, of high He can make low, and unto"

"Hail, Zaragoza! If with unwet eye We can approach, thy sorrow to behold, Yet is the heart not pitiless nor cold; Such spectacle demands not tear or"

"The Bard, whose soul is meek as dawning day, Yet trained to judgments righteously severe, Fervid, yet conversant with holy fear, As recognising"

"Loud is the Vale! the Voice is up With which she speaks when storms are gone, A mighty unison of streams! Of all her Voices, One! Loud is th"

"Let other bards of angels sing, Bright suns without a spot; But thou art no such perfect thing: Rejoice that thou art not! Heed not tho' non"

"The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink; I heard a voice; it said, "Drink, pretty creature, drink!" And, looking o'er the hedge, before m"

"Bishops and Priests, blessed are ye, if deep (As yours above all offices is high) Deep in your hearts the sense of duty lie; Charged as ye are"

"Stay, bold Adventurer; rest awhile thy limbs On this commodious Seat! for much remains Of hard ascent before thou reach the top Of this huge Em"

"Was the aim frustrated by force or guile, When giants scooped from out the rocky ground, Tier under tier, this semicirque profound? (Giants the"

"Another year! another deadly blow! Another mighty Empire overthrown! And We are left, or shall be left, alone; The last that dare to struggle with"

"Keep for the Young the impassioned smile Shed from thy countenance, as I see thee stand High on that chalky cliff of Britain's Isle, A slender"

"Flattered with promise of escape From every hurtful blast, Spring takes, O sprightly May! thy shape, Her loveliest and her last. Less fair i"

"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 the lak"

"I Hail, orient Conqueror of gloomy Night! Thou that canst shed the bliss of gratitude On hearts howe'er insensible or rude; Whether thy punc"

"Young England, what is then become of Old Of dear Old England? Think they she is dead, Dead to the very name? Presumption fed On empty air! Tha"

"Even as a dragon's eye that feels the stress Of a bedimming sleep, or as a lamp Suddenly glaring through sepulchral damp, So burns yon Taper 'mid a"

"Here on their knees men swore: the stones were black, Black in the people's minds and words, yet they Were at that time, as now, in colour grey."

"The massy Ways, carried across these heights By Roman perseverance, are destroyed, Or hidden under ground, like sleeping worms. How venture the"

"See the various Poems the scene of which is laid upon the banks of the Yarrow; in particular, the exquisite Ballad of Hamilton beginning Busk ye, b"

"Nor scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend The Soul's eternal interests to promote: Death, darkness, danger, are our natural lot; And evil Spi"

"I Within her gilded cage confined, I saw a dazzling Belle, A Parrot of that famous kind Whose name is Non-Pareil. Like beads of glossy jet"

"While from the purpling east departs The star that led the dawn, Blithe Flora from her couch upstarts, For May is on the lawn. A quickening hope,"

"Or, The Solitude Of Binnorie Seven Daughter had Lord Archibald, All children of one mother: You could not say in one short day What love they bor"

"The fairest, brightest, hues of ether fade; The sweetest notes must terminate and die; O Friend! thy flute has breathed a harmony Softly resounded"

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

"Who comes with rapture greeted, and caressed With frantic love, his kingdom to regain? Him Virtue's Nurse, Adversity, in vain Received, and fos"

"Ah! where is Palafox? Nor tongue no pen Reports of him, his dwelling or his grave! Does yet the unheard of vessel ride the wave? Or is she swallowe"

"Since risen from ocean, ocean to defy, Appeared the crag of Ailsa, ne'er did morn With gleaming lights more gracefully adorn His sides, or wrea"

"If these brief Records, by the Muses' art Produced as lonely Nature or the strife That animates the scenes of public life Inspired, may in thy"

"Smile of the Moon! for I so name That silent greeting from above; A gentle flash of light that came From her whom drooping captives love; Or art t"

"'Tis said, fantastic ocean doth enfold The likeness of whate'er on land is seen; But, if the Nereid Sisters and their Queen, Above whose heads"

"Uttered by whom, or how inspired designed For what strange service, does this concert reach Our ears, and near the dwellings of mankind! 'Mid f"

"Here stood an Oak, that long had borne affixed To his huge trunk, or, with more subtle art, Among its withering topmost branches mixed, The pal"

"Soft as a cloud is yon blue Ridge, the Mere Seems firm as solid crystal, breathless, clear, And motionless; and, to the gazer's eye, Deeper tha"

"Glide gently, thus for ever glide, O Thames! that other bards may see As lovely visions by thy side As now, fair river! come to me. O glide, fair"

"I "Begone, thou fond presumptuous Elf," Exclaimed an angry Voice, "Nor dare to thrust thy foolish self Between me and my choice!" A small Cascad"

"Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books; Or surely you'll grow double: Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks; Why all this toil and trouble?"

"O now that the genius of Bewick were mine, And the skill which he learned on the banks of the Tyne. Then the Muses might deal with me just as they c"

"Where are they now, those wanton Boys? For whose free range the daedal earth Was filled with animated toys, And implements of frolic mirth; W"