That, deaf and silent, read'st the eternal deep, On whom those truths do rest, 115 Which we are toiling all our lives to find, In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave; Thou, over whom thy immortality Broods like the day, a master o'er a slave, A presence which is not to be put by ; Of heaven-born freedom on thy being's height, Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight, Frequentored Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life! 120 125 Address chuld is real prophet thingh unconcions of it beng reaves to dive truth IX Disportulate with child for centrciiating troubles of adult life O joy that in our embers Is something that doth live, That nature yet remembers What was so fugitive! The thought of our past years in me doth breed Perpetual benediction: not indeed For that which is most worthy to be blest Delight and liberty, the simple creed Of childhood, whether busy or at rest, With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast: Not for these I raise The song of thanks and praise; Su modula But for those obstinate questionings Of sense and outward things, Fallings from us, vanishings; Cif P. 195 Blank misgivings of a creature 130 135 140 Are yet the fountain light of all our day, Are yet a master light of all our seeing ; Uphold us, cherish, and have power to make Though inland far we be, Our souls have sight of that immortal sea Can in a moment travel thither, And see the children sport upon the shore, And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore. Idea Shows hime here as a Thought 165 fest that a dimine anger. the true home ocean X. Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song! As to the tabor's sound; We in thought will join your throng, Ye that through your hearts to-day Feel the gladness of the May! of 170 What though the radiance which was once so bright 175 Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower; eternity. We will grieve not, rather find 180 Which having been must ever be ; Out of human suffering; In the faith that looks through death, quoted XI. 185 And O, ye fountains, meadows, hills, and groves, Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might ; I love the brooks which down their channels fret, Is lovely yet; 190 195 The clouds that gather round the setting sun Another race hath been, and other palms are won. That which is 200 remains most worth haunch ofit: the special enthusiasm of youto is past. dose of clued and becomes broader & guller s based oid conviction must celojes se talk. ever dullest Fur nousy years seem moren's in the being of NOTES TO PART I. LINES WRITTEN IN EARLY SPRING. INTRODUCTION. COMPOSED in 1798 and first published in the same year. Wordsworth tells us that these lines were written while he was sitting by the side of the brook that runs through the grounds of Alfoxden. "The brook," he continues, "ran down a sloping rock, so as to make a waterfall, and across the pool below had fallen a tree . from which rose perpendicularly boughs in search of the light intercepted by the deep shade above. The boughs bore leaves of green, that for want of sunshine had faded into almost lily-white; and from the under side of this natural sylvan bridge depended long and beautiful tresses of ivy, which waved gently in the breeze, that might, poetically speaking, be called the breath of the waterfall. The motion varied of course in proportion to the power of water in the brook." The holly grove in Alfoxden dell was a trysting-place of Wordsworth, Coleridge, and their friends, and of all the localities round Alfoxden, is the one chiefly associated with Wordsworth. NOTES. 2. a grove. See Introduction. 3, 4. when... mind. His happy communings with Nature bring with them a touch of pensive sadness, and thus lead on to the thought of the next stanza. 5-8. To her fair... of man. While I beheld the beauty and happy order of Nature around me and felt all my sympathies drawn out towards her, I realized with the greater vividness the misery and disorder that man, by the treatment of his fellowman, has introduced into the world. 93 8. What man etc. Cf. Burns, Man was made to Mourn, 55, 56: "Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn. 6. that through me ran, that filled or permeated me. 10. The periwinkle (Lat. pervinca, from vincire, to bind) is a plant with a rich blue flower and trailing stem covered with glossy green leaves. It is found in moist woodland spots. 11, 12. every flower... breathes. Cf. the Laws of Manu, i. 49: "Vegetables, as well as animals, have internal consciousness, and are sensible of pleasure and pain." In The Excursion, i. 189, the poet speaks of "the pure delight of love" diffused by “the silent looks of happy things.' 17. their fan. The twigs expand from the branches in the form of a fan, so as to secure the greatest amount of air. 19. do all I can, in spite of anything to the contrary; I cannot help thinking. 21-24. See note to ll. 5-8 above. "THERE WAS A BOY." INTRODUCTION. COMPOSED in 1798, in Germany; and first published in Lyrical Ballads in 1800. The lines are included in The Prelude (Book v. 364-397). "The Prelude, or, Growth of a Poet's Mind: an Autobiographical Poem " was commenced in 1799 and finished in 1805, but was not published till 1850. His The grave of this immortal boy' cannot be identified. name, and everything about him except what is here recorded, is unknown; but he was, in all likelihood, a school companion of Wordsworth at Hawkshead. Wordsworth says: "This practice of making an instrument of their own fingers is known to most boys, though some are more skilful at it than others. William Raincock of Rayrigg, a fine spirited lad, took the lead of all my schoolfellows in this art." NOTES. · 2. Winander. 'Windermere' is a contraction of Winander mere.' It is the largest lake in England, and is renowned for its beauty. It lies on the borders of Lancashire and Westmoreland. 3. earliest stars, the stars that first appear in the evening sky. 7-9. hands Pressed... Uplifted. Absolute clauses; 'both hands being pressed' etc. |