Feel for the wrongs to universal ken Daily exposed, woe that unshrouded lies; And seek the Sufferer in his darkest den, Whether conducted to the spot by sighs And moanings, or he dwells (as if the wren 5 Taught him concealment) hidden from all eyes In silence and the awful modesties Of sorrow;--feel for all, as brother Men! Rest not in hope want’s icy chain to thaw By casual boons and formal charities;[225] 10 Learn to be just, just through impartial law; Far as ye may, erect and equalise; And, what ye cannot reach by statute, draw Each from his fountain of self-sacrifice! [225] 1845. … Men!-- Feel for the Poor,--but not to still your qualms By formal charity or dole of alms; Learn … 1842. IN ALLUSION TO VARIOUS RECENT HISTORIES AND NOTICES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Published 1842 One of the “Sonnets dedicated to Liberty and Order.”--ED. Portentous change when History can appear As the cool Advocate of foul device;[226] Reckless audacity extol, and jeer At consciences perplexed with scruples nice! They who bewail not, must abhor, the sneer 5 Born of Conceit, Power’s blind Idolater; Or haply sprung from vaunting Cowardice Betrayed by mockery of holy fear. Hath it not long been said the wrath of Man Works not the righteousness of God? Oh bend, 10 Bend, ye Perverse! to judgments from on High, Laws that lay under Heaven’s perpetual ban All principles of action that transcend The sacred limits of humanity. [226] Wordsworth wrote this sonnet against Carlyle’s _French Revolution_ in particular. Carlyle knew it, and this may in part--although only in part--account for Carlyle’s indifference to Wordsworth.--ED. CONTINUED Published 1842 One of the “Sonnets dedicated to Liberty and Order.”--ED. Who ponders National events shall find An awful balancing of loss and gain, Joy based on sorrow, good with ill combined, And proud deliverance issuing out of pain And direful throes; as if the All-ruling Mind, 5 With whose perfection it consists to ordain Volcanic burst, earthquake, and hurricane, Dealt in like sort with feeble human kind By laws immutable. But woe for him Who thus deceived shall lend an eager hand 10 To social havoc. Is not Conscience ours, And Truth, whose eye guilt only can make dim; And Will, whose office, by divine command, Is to control and check disordered Powers? CONCLUDED Published 1842 One of the “Sonnets dedicated to Liberty and Order.”--ED.