Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts 145 Of tender joy wilt thou remember me, And these my exhortations! Nor, perchance- Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these Of past existence-wilt thou then forget 150 That on the banks of this delightful stream EXPOSTULATION AND REPLY (1798) "Why, William, on that old gray stone 5 Where are your books?—that light bequeathed Up! up! and drink the spirit breathed You look round on your Mother Earth, 10 As if she for no purpose bore you; As if you were her first-born birth, ་ One morning thus, by Esthwaite lake, "The eye-it cannot choose but see; 20 Against or with our will. Nor less I deem that there are Powers 25 Think you, 'mid all this mighty sum -Then ask not wherefore, here, alone, 30 Conversing as I may, I sit upon this old gray stone, THE TABLES TURNED AN EVENING SCENE ON THE SAME SUBJECT (1798) Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books; Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks; 5 The sun, above the mountain's head, Through all the long green fields has spread, Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife: And hark! how blithe the throstle sings! 15 Come forth into the light of things, She has a world of ready wealth, One impulse from a vernal wood 25 Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; Our meddling intellect Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:— Enough of Science and of Art; 30 Close up those barren leaves; Come forth, and bring with you a heart That watches and receives. THREE YEARS SHE GREW (1799) Three years she grew in sun and shower, This Child I to myself will take; 5 She shall be mine, and I will make A Lady of my own. Myself will to my darling be Both law and impulse: and with me 10 In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, Shall feel an overseeing power To kindle or restrain. She shall be sportive as the fawn That wild with glee across the lawn 15 Or up the mountain springs; And hers shall be the breathing balm, The floating clouds their state shall lend 20 To her; for her the willow bend; Nor shall she fail to see Even in the motions of the Storm, Grace that shall mold the Maiden's form 25 The stars of midnight shall be dear Where rivulets dance their wayward round, 30 Shall pass into her face. And vital feelings of delight Shall rear her form to stately height, Her virgin bosom swell; Such thoughts to Lucy I will give 35 While she and I together live Here in this happy dell.” Thus Nature spake-The work was done- She died, and left to me 40 This heath, this calm, and quiet scene; The memory of what has been, And never more will be. SHE DWELT AMONG THE UNTRODDEN WAYS (1799) She dwelt among the untrodden ways A Maid whom there were none to praise, 5 A violet by a mossy stone 10 She lived unknown, and few could know But she is in her grave, and, oh, The difference to me! MICHAEL A Pastoral Poem (1800) If from the public way you turn your steps Up the tumultuous brook of Green-head Ghyll, You will suppose that with an upright path Your feet must struggle; in such bold ascent 5 The pastoral mountains front you, face to face. But, courage! for around that boisterous brook The mountains have all opened out themselves, And made a hidden valley of their own. |