LONDON, 1802
by: William Wordsworth
(1770-1850)
- ILTON! thou shouldst be living
at this hour:
- England hath need of thee: she is a fen
- Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,
- Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
- Have forfeited their ancient English dower
- Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
- Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
- And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
- Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart:
- Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:
- Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
- So didst thou travel on life's common way,
- In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart
- The lowliest duties on herself did lay.
'London, 1802' is reprinted from
English Poems. Ed. Edward Chauncey Baldwin. New York:
American Book Company, 1908. |
MORE POEMS BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH |
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