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Whose mind is but the mind of his own eyes,
He is a Slave; the meanest we can meet ! *

III

Wings have we, and as far as we can go
We may find pleasure: wilderness and wood,
Blank ocean and mere sky, support that mood
Which with the lofty sanctifies the low.

30

Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know,
Are a substantial world, both pure and good :
Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,

Our pastime and our happiness will grow.

36

There find I personal themes, a plenteous store,

Matter wherein right voluble I am,

To which I listen with a ready ear;

Two shall be named, pre-eminently dear,-1
The gentle Lady married to the Moor; †

40

And heavenly Una with her milk-white Lamb.

IV

Nor can I not believe but that hereby
Great gains are mine; for thus I live remote

From evil-speaking; rancour, never sought,
Comes to me not; malignant truth, or lie.
Hence have I genial seasons, hence have I

1 1827.

There do I find a never-failing store
Of personal themes, and such as I love best;
Matter wherein right voluble I am:
Two will I mention, dearer than the rest;

* Compare The Prelude, book xii. 1. 151 (vol. iii. p. 349)

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1807.

ED.

45

† Wordsworth said on one occasion, as Professor Dowden has reminded us, that he thought Othello, the close of the Phado, and Walton's Life of George Herbert, the three "most pathetic" writings in the world.-ED.

Smooth passions, smooth discourse, and joyous

thought:

And thus from day to day my little boat
Rocks in its harbour, lodging peaceably.

50

Blessings be with them and eternal praise,
Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares—
The Poets, who on earth have made us heirs
Of truth and pure delight by heavenly lays!
Oh! might my name be numbered among theirs,

55

Then gladly would I end my mortal days.

The text of the poem was little altered, and was fixed in 1827. It had no title in 1807 and 1815.

The reading of 1807,

my half-kitchen my half-parlour fire,

was a reminiscence of Dove Cottage, which we regret to lose in the later editions.

In the Baptistery of Westminster Abbey, there is a statue of Wordsworth by Frederick Thrupp of great merit, placed there by the late Dean Stanley, beside busts of Keble, Maurice, and Kingsley. Underneath the statue of Wordsworth are the four lines from Personal Talk

Blessings be with them and eternal praise,
Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares-
The Poets, who on earth have made us heirs
Of truth and pure delight by heavenly lays!

Dean Stanley found it difficult to select from Wordsworth's poems the lines most appropriate for inscription, and adopted these at the suggestion of his friend, Principal Shairp. -ED.

VOL. IV

D

ADMONITION

Intended more particularly for the perusal of those who may have happened to be enamoured of some beautiful place of Retreat, in the Country of the Lakes.

Composed 1806. - Published 1807

Classed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."-ED.

WELL may'st thou halt and gaze with brightening eye !1 The lovely Cottage in the guardian nook

Hath stirred thee deeply; with its own dear brook,

Its own small pasture, almost its own sky! *

But covet not the Abode ;-forbear to sigh,2

5

As many do, repining while they look;

Intruders-who would tear 3 from Nature's book

This precious leaf, with harsh impiety.4

Think what the Home must be if it were thine,
Even thine, though few thy wants!-Roof, window,

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with harsh impiety.

1815.

5 1827.

would

1807.

* Compare the lines in Peter Bell, vol. ii. p. 13-
Where deep and low the hamlets lie
Beneath their little patch of sky
And little lot of stars.

ED.

The roses to the porch which they entwine :
Yea, all, that now enchants thee, from the day
On which it should be touched, would melt away.1

The cottage at Town-end, Grasmere - where this sonnet was composed-may have suggested it. Some of the details, however, are scarcely applicable to Dove Cottage; the "brook " (referred to elsewhere) is outside the orchard ground, and there is scarcely anything in the garden to warrant the phrase, “its own small pasture." It is unnecessary to localise the allusions.

-ED.

““BELOVED VALE!' I SAID, ‘WHEN I
SHALL CON'"

Composed 1806. - Published 1807

One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."-ED.

"BELOVED Vale!" I said, "when I shall con
Those many records of my childish years,
Remembrance of myself and of my peers
Will press me down: to think of what is gone
Will be an awful thought, if life have one."
But, when into the Vale I came, no fears
Distressed me; from mine eyes escaped no tears; 2
Deep thought, or dread remembrance, had I none.3
By doubts and thousand petty fancies crost 4

5

1 1838.

would melt, and melt away!

1807.

2 1827.

Distress'd me; I look'd round, I shed no tears;

1807.

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I stood, of simple shame the blushing Thrall ; *
So narrow seemed the brooks, the fields so small !1
A Juggler's balls old Time about him tossed;
I looked, I stared, I smiled, I laughed; and all
The weight of sadness was in wonder lost.

10

Doubtless the "Vale" referred to is that of Hawkshead; the "brooks" may refer to the one that feeds Esthwaite lake, or to Sawrey beck, or (more likely) to the streamlet, “the famous brook within our garden boxed," described in The Prelude, books i. and ii. (vol. iii.) See also The Fountain, vol. ii. p. 92.-ED.

"HOW SWEET IT IS, WHEN MOTHER
FANCY ROCKS"

Composed 1806. - Published 1807

Placed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."-ED.

How sweet it is, when mother Fancy rocks

The wayward brain, to saunter through a wood!

An old place, full of many a lovely brood,

Tall trees, green arbours, and ground-flowers in flocks;

And wild rose tip-toe upon hawthorn stocks,

5

Like a bold Girl, who plays her agile pranks 2
At Wakes and Fairs with wandering Mountebanks, -
When she stands cresting the Clown's head, and mocks

The crowd beneath her. Verily I think,

Such place to me is sometimes like a dream

10

1 1827.

To see the Trees, which I had thought so tall,
Mere dwarfs; the Brooks so narrow, Fields so small.

1807.

2 1827.

Like to a bonny Lass, who plays her pranks

1807.

* Compare Hart-Leap Well, 1. 117 (vol. ii. p. 134).-ED.

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