Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
Full Title
The complete poetical works of William Wordsworth: together with a description of the country of the lakes in the north of England, now first published with his works ... / edited by Henry Reed.
Author
Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850. Melville, Herman, 1819-1891.
Date Added
8 January 2014
Language
English
Publish Date
1839
Publisher
Philadelphia: J. Kay, Jun. and brother; Boston: J. Munroe and Co.; [etc., etc.]
Source
Woodstock Theological Center Library, Georgetown University.
Topic
Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850. Melville, Herman, 1819-1891. English poetry.
About
More Details Permanent Link
Disclaimers
Disclaimer of Liability Disclaimer of Endorsement
OCR
116
WORDSWORTH’S
POETICAL WORKS.
Vainly glitters hill and plain, wes
And the air is calm*in vain;
Vainly Morning spreads the lure
Of a sky serene and pure;
‘Creature none can she decoy
Into open sign of joy:
Is it that they have a fear
_ Of the dreary season near?
Or that other pleasures be
Sweeter even than gaiety ?
Yet, whate’er enjoyments dwell
In the impenetrable cell
Of the silent heart which Nature~
Furnishes to every Creature ;
Whatsoe’er we feel and know
Too sedate for outward show,
Such a light of gladness breaks,
Pretty Kitten! from thy freaks, —
Spreads with such a living grace
O’er my little Laura’s face;
Yes, the sight so stirs and charms
Thee, Baby, laughing in my arms,
That almost I could repine
That your transports are not mine,
That I do not wholly fare
Even as ye do, thoughtless -Pair!
And I will have my careless season
Spite of melancholy reason,
Will walk through life in such a way
That, when time brings on decay,
Now and then I may possess
Hours of perfect gladsomeness,
— Pleased by any random toy ;
By a Kitten’s busy joy,
Or an Infant’s laughing eye
Sharing in the ecstasy ;
I would fare like that or this,
Find my wisdom in my bliss;
Keep the sprightly soul awake,
And have faculties to take,
Even from things by sorrow wrought,
Matter for a jocund thought,
Spite of care, and spite of grief,
To gambol with Life’s falling Leaf.
A FLOWER GARDEN.
Tritt me, ye Zephyrs! that unfold,
While fluttering o’er this gay Recess,
Pinions that fanned the teeming mould
Of Eden’s blissful wilderness,
Did only softly-stealing Hours
There close the peaceful lives of flowers?
Say, when the moving Creatures saw
All kinds commingled without fear,
Prevailed a like indulgent law
For the still Growths that prosper here?
Did wanton Fawn and Kid forbear
The half-blown Rose, :the Lily spare ?
Or peeped they often from their beds
And prematurely disappeared,
Devoured like pleasure ere it spreads
A bosom to the Sun endeared ?
If such their harsh untimely doom,
It falls not here on bud or bloom,
All Summer Jong the happy Eve
Of this fair Spot her flowers may bind,
Nor e’er, with ruffled fancy, grieve,
From the next glance she casts, to find
That love for little Things by Fate
Is rendered vain as love for great.
Yet, where the guardian Fence is wound,
So subtly is the eye beguiled
It sees not nor suspects a Bound,
No more than in some forest wild;
Free as the light in. semblance — crost
Only by art in nature lost.
And, though the jealous turf refuse
By random footsteps to be prest,
And feeds on never-sullied dews,
Ye, gentle breezes from the West,
With all the ministers of Hope,
Are tempted to this sunny slope!
And hither throngs of birds resort;
Some, inmates lodged in shady nests,
Some, perched on stems of stately port
That nod to welcome transient guests;
While Hare and Leveret, seen at play,
Appear not more shut out than they.
Apt emblem (for reproof of pride)
This delicate Enclosure shows
Of modest kindness, that would hide
The firm protection she bestows};
Of manners, like its viewless fence,
Ensuring peace to innocence.
Thus spake the moral Muse —her wing
Abruptly spreading to depart,
She left that farewell offering,
Memento for some docile heart;
That may respect the good old age
When Fancy was Truth’s willing Page;
And Truth would skim the flowery glad .
Though entering but as Fancy’s Shade.
vaues
ft
‘Sred
The
Of Xan
sd set
Alt
Suri