"Weak is the will of Man, his judgment blind; Remembrance persecutes, and Hope betrays; Heavy is woe;--and joy, for human-kind, A mournful thing, so transient is the blaze!" Thus might _he_ paint our lot of mortal days 5 Who wants the glorious faculty assigned To elevate the more-than-reasoning Mind, And colour life's dark cloud with orient rays. Imagination is that sacred power,[AM] Imagination lofty and refined: 10 'Tis hers to pluck the amaranthine flower Of Faith, and round the Sufferer's temples bind Wreaths that endure affliction's heaviest shower, And do not shrink from sorrow's keenest wind. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote AM: Compare the distinction Wordsworth draws between Fancy and Imagination in his "Preface" to the Poems published in 1815, and his definition of the function of the Imagination in that essay.--ED.] "HAIL, TWILIGHT, SOVEREIGN OF ONE PEACEFUL HOUR" Published 1815 One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED. Hail, Twilight, sovereign of one peaceful hour! Not dull art Thou as undiscerning Night; But studious only to remove from sight Day's mutable distinctions.--Ancient Power! Thus did the waters gleam, the mountains lower, 5 To the rude Briton, when, in wolf-skin vest Here roving wild, he laid him down to rest On the bare rock, or through a leafy bower Looked ere his eyes were closed. By him was seen The self-same Vision which we now behold, 10 At thy meek bidding, shadowy Power! brought forth; These mighty barriers, and the gulf between; The flood,[75] the stars,--a spectacle as old As the beginning of the heavens and earth! VARIANTS: [Footnote 75: 1837. The floods,-- ... 1815. ] "THE SHEPHERD, LOOKING EASTWARD, SOFTLY SAID" Published 1815 One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED. The Shepherd, looking eastward, softly said, "Bright is thy veil, O Moon, as thou art bright!" Forthwith, that little cloud, in ether spread And penetrated all with tender light, She cast away, and showed her fulgent head 5 Uncovered; dazzling the Beholder's sight As if to vindicate her beauty's right, Her beauty thoughtlessly disparagèd. Meanwhile that veil, removed or thrown aside, Went floating from her, darkening as it went; 10 And a huge mass, to bury or to hide, Approached this glory of the firmament; Who meekly yields, and is obscured--content With one calm triumph of a modest pride. "EVEN AS A DRAGON'S EYE THAT FEELS THE STRESS" Published 1815 One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.