William Wordsworth

"I listen, but no faculty of mine Avails those modulations to detect, Which, heard in foreign lands, the Swiss affect With tenderest passion; le"

"Among the dwellings framed by birds In field or forest with nice care, Is none that with the little Wren's In snugness may compare. No door the t"

"Pause, courteous Spirit! Balbi supplicates That Thou, with no reluctant voice, for him Here laid in mortal darkness, wouldst prefer A prayer to"

"The Sabbath bells renew the inviting peal; Glad music! yet there be that, worn with pain And sickness, listen where they long have lain, In sad"

"Ah, think how one compelled for life to abide Locked in a dungeon needs must eat the heart Out of his own humanity, and part With every hope th"

"'Twas summer, and the sun had mounted high: Southward the landscape indistinctly glared Through a pale steam; but all the northern downs, In cl"

"A pen, to register; a key That winds through secret wards Are well assigned to Memory By allegoric Bards. As aptly, also, might be given A Penci"

"I Thy functions are ethereal, As if within thee dwelt a glancing mind, Organ of vision! And a Spirit aerial Informs the cell of Hearing, dark"

"High on her speculative tower Stood Science waiting for the hour When Sol was destined to endure 'That' darkening of his radiant face Which S"

"Most sweet it is with unuplifted eyes To pace the ground, if path be there or none, While a fair region round the traveler lies Which he forbea"

"Proud were ye, Mountains, when, in times of old, Your patriot sons, to stem invasive war, Intrenched your brows; ye gloried in each scar: Now,"

"What crowd is this? what have we here! we must not pass it by; A Telescope upon its frame, and pointed to the sky: Long is it as a barber's pole, or"

"One who was suffering tumult in his soul, Yet failed to seek the sure relief of prayer, Went forth, his course surrendering to the care Of the fier"

"The Cock is crowing, The stream is flowing, The small birds twitter, The lake doth glitter, The green field sleeps in the sun; The oldest a"

"The Crescent-moon, the Star of Love, Glories of evening, as ye there are seen With but a span of sky between Speak one of you, my doubts remove"

"Up to the throne of God is borne The voice of praise at early morn, And he accepts the punctual hymn Sung as the light of day grows dim: Nor"

"Broken in fortune, but in mind entire And sound in principle, I seek repose Where ancient trees this convent-pile enclose, In ruin beautiful. W"

"Rotha, my Spiritual Child! this head was grey When at the sacred font for thee I stood; Pledged till thou reach the verge of womanhood, And sha"

"I travelled among unknown men, In lands beyond the sea; Nor, England! did I know till then What love I bore to thee. 'Tis past, that melanch"

"Tax not the royal Saint with vain expense, With ill-matched aims the Architect who planned Albeit labouring for a scanty band Of white robed Sc"

"Aid, glorious Martyrs, from your fields of light, Our mortal ken! Inspire a perfect trust (While we look round) that Heaven's decrees are just:"

"They dreamt not of a perishable home Who thus could build. Be mine, in hours of fear Or groveling thought, to seek a refuge here; Or through th"

"Avon, a precious, an immortal name! Yet is it one that other rivulets bear Like this unheard-of, and their channels wear Like this contented, t"

"Forbear to deem the Chronicler unwise, Ungentle, or untouched by seemly ruth, Who, gathering up all that Time's envious tooth Has spared of sou"

"As indignation mastered grief, my tongue Spake bitter words; words that did ill agree With those rich stores of Nature's imagery, And divine Ar"

"Pause, Traveller! whosoe'er thou be Whom chance may lead to this retreat, Where silence yields reluctantly Even to the fleecy straggler's bleat"

"It is not to be thought of that the Flood Of British freedom, which, to the open sea Of the world's praise, from dark antiquity Hath flowed, "with"

"To a good Man of most dear memory This Stone is sacred. Here he lies apart From the great city where he first drew breath, Was reared and taugh"

""And has the Sun his flaming chariot driven Two hundred times around the ring of heaven, Since Science first, with all her sacred train, Beneath yo"

"Methinks that I could trip o'er heaviest soil, Light as a buoyant bark from wave to wave, Were mine the trusty staff that Jewel gave To youthfu"

"I saw a Mother's eye intensely bent Upon a Maiden trembling as she knelt; In and for whom the pious Mother felt Things that we judge of by a li"

"Companion! by whose buoyant Spirit cheered,         In whose experience trusting, day by day         Treasures I gained with zeal that neith"

""People! your chains are severing link by link; Soon shall the Rich be leveled down the Poor Meet them half way." Vain boast! for These, the more"

"A stream to mingle with your favorite Dee Along the Vale of Meditation flows; So styled by those fierce Britons, pleased to see In Nature's face th"

"Woman! the Power who left his throne on high, And deigned to wear the robe of flesh we wear, The Power that thro' the straits of Infancy Did pa"

"There is a bondage worse, far worse, to bear Than his who breathes, by roof, and floor, and wall, Pent in, a Tyrant's solitary Thrall: 'Tis his who"

"Why stand we gazing on the sparkling Brine, With wonder smit by its transparency, And all-enraptured with its purity? Because the unstained, th"

"Sad thoughts, avaunt! partake we their blithe cheer Who gathered in betimes the unshorn flock To wash the fleece, where haply bands of rock, Ch"

"They seek, are sought; to daily battle led, Shrink not, though far outnumbered by their Foes, For they have learnt to open and to close The ridges"

"Bold words affirmed, in days when faith was strong And doubts and scruples seldom teased the brain, That no adventurer's bark had power to gain"

"Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass! Reaping and singing by herself; Stop here, or gently pass! Alone she cuts and bi"

"Departing summer hath assumed An aspect tenderly illumed, The gentlest look of spring; That calls from yonder leafy shade Unfaded, yet prepar"

"By such examples moved to unbought pains, The people work like congregated bees; Eager to build the quiet Fortresses Where Piety, as they belie"

"O'er the wide earth, on mountain and on plain, Dwells in the affections and the soul of man A Godhead, like the universal PAN; But more exalted, wi"

"Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost With the least shade of thought to sin allied. Woman! above all women glorified, Our tainted natures solita"

"How sad a welcome! To each voyager Some ragged child holds up for sale a store Of wave-worn pebbles, pleading on the shore Where once came monk"

"Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee; And was the safeguard of the west: the worth Of Venice did not fall below her birth, Venice, the el"

"Lyre! though such power do in thy magic live As might from India's farthest plain Recall the not unwilling Maid, Assist me to detain The love"

"I. The Pilgrim Fathers Well worthy to be magnified are they Who, with sad hearts, of friends and country took A last farewell, their loved abod"

"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 We so"

"Long time his pulse hath ceased to beat But benefits, his gift, we trace, Expressed in every eye we meet Round this dear Vale, his native place."

"Six months to six years added he remained Upon this sinful earth, by sin unstained: O blessed Lord! whose mercy then removed A Child whom every"

""What beast in wilderness or cultured field "The lively beauty of the leopard shows? "What flower in meadow-ground or garden grows "That to the"

"Ye Lime-trees, ranged before this hallowed Urn, Shoot forth with lively power at Spring's return; And be not slow a stately growth to rear Of p"

"I "Rest, rest, perturbed Earth! O rest, thou doleful Mother of Mankind!" A Spirit sang in tones more plaintive than the wind: "From regions where"

"Once in a lonely hamlet I sojourned In which a Lady driven from France did dwell; The big and lesser griefs with which she mourned, In friendship s"

"From false assumption rose, and, fondly hailed By superstition, spread the Papal power; Yet do not deem the Autocracy prevailed Thus only, even"

"Meek Virgin Mother, more benign Than fairest Star, upon the height Of thy own mountain, set to keep Lone vigils through the hours of sleep, W"

"In Calling Forth and Strengthening the Imagination in Boyhood and Early Youth Wisdom and Spirit of the Universe! Thou Soul, that art the Eternity"

"The Baptist might have been ordained to cry Forth from the towers of that huge Pile, wherein His Father served Jehovah; but how win Due audienc"