The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

Name: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)
Author: Wordsworth, William

Wordsworth, William

English poetry -- 18th century; English poetry -- 19th century

... were thronged, but why disown
    Their natural voices ...                                       C.
]

[Footnote 570: 1850.

                                         ... peace;
    How strange thought I this orderly release
    From social noise. What law elsewhere unknown
    That stillness guards? Then ocean cried, "I drown
    In solemn sounds; let wonder cease!
    So through his spiritual ear is man set free
    From conscious pressure of life's heaviest din,
    When the....                                                  MS.

                                     ... release
    From social noise, quiet elsewhere unknown:
    { A spirit whispered  }
    { Then cried a spirit } "Doth not ocean drown
    In solemn sounds; let wonder cease!
    So through his overpowering murmurs....                       MS.
]

[Footnote 571: 1850.

    Deadens--the shocks of { tumult  }                            MS.
                           { passion }
]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote JF: See Wordsworth's note appended to the poem.--ED.]

[Footnote JG: This sonnet was first published in the edition of
1850.--ED.]


XXXVII

DESULTORY STANZAS,

UPON RECEIVING THE PRECEDING SHEETS FROM THE PRESS

    Is then the final page before me spread,
    Nor further outlet left to mind or heart?
    Presumptuous Book! too forward to be read,
    How can I give thee licence to depart?
    One tribute more: unbidden feelings start                      5
    Forth from their coverts; slighted objects rise;
    My spirit is the scene of such wild art
    As on Parnassus rules, when lightning flies,
    Visibly leading on the thunder's harmonies.

    All that I saw returns upon my view,                          10
    All that I heard comes back upon my ear,
    All that I felt this moment doth renew;
    And where the foot with no unmanly fear
    Recoiled--and wings alone could travel--there
    I move at ease; and meet contending themes                    15
    That press upon me, crossing the career
    Of recollections vivid as the dreams
    Of midnight,--cities, plains, forests, and mighty streams.

    Where Mortal never breathed I dare to sit
    Among the interior Alps, gigantic crew,                       20
    Who triumphed o'er diluvian power!--and yet
    What are they but a wreck and residue,
    Whose only business is to perish!--true
    To which sad course, these wrinkled Sons of Time
    Labour their proper greatness to subdue;                      25
    Speaking of death alone, beneath a clime
    Where life and rapture flow in plenitude sublime.[JH]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)Wordsworth, William

General

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

Wordsworth, William

English poetry -- 18th century; English poetry -- 19th century

... were thronged, but why disown
    Their natural voices ...                                       C.
]

[Footnote 570: 1850.

                                         ... peace;
    How strange thought I this orderly release
    From social noise. What law elsewhere unknown
    That stillness guards? Then ocean cried, "I drown
    In solemn sounds; let wonder cease!
    So through his spiritual ear is man set free
    From conscious pressure of life's heaviest din,
    When the....                                                  MS.

                                     ... release
    From social noise, quiet elsewhere unknown:
    { A spirit whispered  }
    { Then cried a spirit } "Doth not ocean drown
    In solemn sounds; let wonder cease!
    So through his overpowering murmurs....                       MS.
]

[Footnote 571: 1850.

    Deadens--the shocks of { tumult  }                            MS.
                           { passion }
]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote JF: See Wordsworth's note appended to the poem.--ED.]

[Footnote JG: This sonnet was first published in the edition of
1850.--ED.]


XXXVII

DESULTORY STANZAS,

UPON RECEIVING THE PRECEDING SHEETS FROM THE PRESS

    Is then the final page before me spread,
    Nor further outlet left to mind or heart?
    Presumptuous Book! too forward to be read,
    How can I give thee licence to depart?
    One tribute more: unbidden feelings start                      5
    Forth from their coverts; slighted objects rise;
    My spirit is the scene of such wild art
    As on Parnassus rules, when lightning flies,
    Visibly leading on the thunder's harmonies.

    All that I saw returns upon my view,                          10
    All that I heard comes back upon my ear,
    All that I felt this moment doth renew;
    And where the foot with no unmanly fear
    Recoiled--and wings alone could travel--there
    I move at ease; and meet contending themes                    15
    That press upon me, crossing the career
    Of recollections vivid as the dreams
    Of midnight,--cities, plains, forests, and mighty streams.

    Where Mortal never breathed I dare to sit
    Among the interior Alps, gigantic crew,                       20
    Who triumphed o'er diluvian power!--and yet
    What are they but a wreck and residue,
    Whose only business is to perish!--true
    To which sad course, these wrinkled Sons of Time
    Labour their proper greatness to subdue;                      25
    Speaking of death alone, beneath a clime
    Where life and rapture flow in plenitude sublime.[JH]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

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