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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.
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OCR
i
POEMS OF THE
IMAGINATION. 243
In simple democratic majesty ; :
Soft breezes fanning your rough brows — the might
And purity of nature spread before your sight !
7.
From this appropriate Court, renowned Lucerne
Calls me to pace her honoured Bridge*— that cheers
The Patriot’s-heart with pictures rude and stern,
An uncouth Chronicle of glorious years,
Like portraiture,. from loftier source, endears
That work of kindred frame, which spans the Lake
Just at the point of issue, where it fears
The form and motion of a Stream to take;
Where it begins to stir, yet voiceless as a Snake.
8.
Volumes of sound, from the Cathedral rolled,
This long-roofed Vista penetrate — but see,
One after one, its Tablets, that unfold
The whole design of Scripture history ;
From the first tasting of the fatal Tree,
Till the bright Star appeared in eastern skies,
Announcing, One was born Mankind to free;
His acts, his wrongs, his final sacrifice ;
Lessons for every heart, a Bible for all eyes.
9..
Our pride misleads, our timid likings kill.
— Long may these homely works devised of old,
These simple Efforts of Helvetian skill,
Aid, with congenial influence, to uphold
The State, —the Country’s destiny to mould;
Turning, for them who pass, the common dust
Of servile opportunity to gold ;
Filling the soul with sentiments august —
The beautiful, the brave, the holy, and the just!
10.
No more;— Time halts not in his noiseless march —
Nor turns, nor winds, as doth the liquid flood ;
Life slips from underneath us, like that arch
Of airy workmanship whereon we stood,
Earth stretched below, Heaven in our neighbourhood.
Go forth, my little Book! pursue thy way ;
Go forth, and please the gentle and the good;
Nor be a whisper stifled, if it say
That treasures, yet untouched, may grace some future
Lay.
* The Bridges of Lucerne are roofed, and open at the sides,
so that the Passenger has, at the same time, the benefit of shade,
and a view of the magnificent country.. The pictures are
attached to the rafters; those from Scripture History, on the
Cathedral-bridge, amount, according to my notes, to 240. Sub-
jects from the Old Testament face the Passenger as he. goes
towards the Cathedral, and those from the New as he returns.
The Pictures on these Bridges, as well as those in most other
parts of Switzerland, are not to be spoken of as works of art ;
but they are instruments admirably answering the purpose for
TO ENTERPRISE+4
Keep for the Young the impassioned smile
Shed from thy countenance, as I see thee stand
High on a chalky cliff of Britain’s Isle,
A slender Volume grasping in thy hand—
(Perchance the pages that relate
The various turns of Crusoe’s fate) —
Ah, spare the exulting smile,
And drop thy pointing finger bright
As the first flash of beacon light;
But neither veil thy head in shadows dim,
Nor turn thy face away
From One who, in the evening of his day,
To thee would offer no presumptuous hymn!
1.
Boip Spirit! who art free to rove
Among the starry courts of Jove,
And oft in splendour dost appear
Embodied to poetic eyes,
While traversing this nether sphere,
Where Mortals call thee Enterprise,
Daughter of Hope! her favourite Child,
Whom she to young Ambition. bore,
When Hunter’s arrow first defiled
The Grove, and stained the turf with gore;
Thee winged Fancy took, and nursed
On broad Euphrates’ palmy shore,
Or where the mightier Waters burst
From caves of Indian ‘mountains hoar!
She wrapped thee in a panther’s skin;
And thou, whose earliest thoughts held dear
Allurements that were edged with fear,
(The food that pleased thee best, to win)
With infant shout wouldst often scare
From her rock-fortress in mid air
The flame-eyed Eagle — often sweep,
Paired with the Ostrich, o’er the plain;
And, tired with sport, wouldst sink asleep
Upon the couchant Lion’s mane! ;
With rolling years thy strength increased ;
And, far beyond thy native East,
To thee, by varying titles known,
As variously thy power was shown,
Did incense-bearing Altars rise,
Which caught the blaze of sacrifice,
From Suppliants panting for the skies!
2.
What though this ancient Earth be trod
No more by step of Demi-god
Mounting from glorious deed to deed
As thou from clime to clime didst lead,
+ This Pocm having risen out of the “ Italian Itinerant,” &e.
which they were designed.
(page 236,) it is here annexed.