William Wordsworth

“ More searching than the breath of spring.
Upon a stone the Woman sits
In agony of silent grief—
From his own thoughts did Peter start;
He longs to press her to his heart,
From love that cannot find relief. ”

“ But, as you by their faces see,
All silent and all damn'd!
A throbbing pulse the Gazer hath—
Puzzled he was, and now is daunted;
He looks, he cannot choose but look;
Like one intent upon a book—
A book that is enchanted. ”

“ Out of the bottom of his heart.
Dread Spirits! to torment the good
Why wander from your course so far,
Disordering colour form and stature!
—Let good men feel the soul of Nature,
And see things as they are. ”

“ He looks—he ponders—looks again;
He sees a motion—hears a groan;—
His eyes will burst—his heart will break—
He gives a loud and frightful shriek,
And drops, a senseless weight, as if his life were flown! ”

“ But, as you by their faces see,
All silent and all damn'd! ”

“ Where, as before, the enduring Ass
Moves on without a moment's stop,
Nor once turns round his head to crop
A bramble leaf or blade of grass.
Between the hedges as they go
The white dust sleeps upon the lane ”

“ He'll sink into a second swoon.
He lifts his head—he sees his staff;
He touches—'tis to him a treasure!
Faint recollection seems to tell
That he is yet where mortals dwell—
A thought receiv'd with languid pleasure! ”

“ Through all his iron frame was felt
A gentle, a relaxing power!
Each fibre of his frame was weak,
Weak all the animal within,
But in its helplessness grew mild
And gentle as an infant child,
An infant that has known no sin. ”

“ Which ever till this night befel.
Meanwhile the Ass to gain his end
Is striving stoutly as he may;
But, while he climbs the woody hill,
The cry grows weak—and weaker still,
And now at last it dies away! ”

“ A savage character was seen,
Of mountains and of dreary moors.
To all the unshap'd half human thoughts
Which solitary Nature feeds
'Mid summer storms or winter's ice,
Had Peter join'd whatever vice
The cruel city breeds. ”

“ We'll sport amid the boreal morning,
Will mingle with her lustres gliding
Among the stars, the stars now hiding
And now the stars adorning.
I know the secrets of a land
Where human foot did never stray ”

“ When he was out of the old quarry.
And is there no one dwelling here,
No hermit with his beads and glass?
And does no little cottage look
Upon this soft and fertile nook?
Does no one live near this green grass? ”

“ These given, what more need I desire,
To stir—to sooth—or elevate?
What nobler marvels than the mind
May in life's daily prospect find,
May find or there create?
A potent wand doth Sorrow wield;
What spell so strong as guilty Fear! ”

“ An infant, waked by her distress,
Makes in the house a piteous cry,—
And Peter hears the Mother sigh,
"Seven are they, and all fatherless!"
And now is Peter taught to feel
That man's heart is a holy thing ”

“ On hearts like that of Peter Bell.
Your presence I have often felt
In darkness and the stormy night;
And well I know, if need there be,
Ye can put forth your agency
When earth is calm, and heaven is bright. ”

“ Languish and droop together. Nor unfelt
In man's perturbed soul thy sway benign;
And, haply, far within the marble belt
Of central earth, where tortured Spirits pine
For grace and goodness lost, thy murmurs melt
Their anguish,—and they blend sweet songs with thine! ”

“ The soft blue sky did never melt
Into his heart,—he never felt
The witchery of the soft blue sky! ”

“ He feels what he for human kind
Had never felt before.
At length, by Peter's arm sustain'd,
The Woman rises from the ground—
"Oh, mercy! something must be done,—
"My little Rachael, you must run,
"Some willing neighbour must be found. ”

“ Till my ribs ach'd, I'd laugh at you!
Away we go, my Boat and I—
Frail man ne'er sate in such another;
Whether among the winds we strive,
Or deep into the heavens we dive,
Each is contented with the other. ”

“ Around those happy fields we span
In boyish gambols—I was lost
Where I have been, but on this coast
I feel I am a man.
Never did fifty things at once
Appear so lovely, never, never,—
How tunefully the forests ring! ”

“ Full twenty times was Peter feared
For once that Peter was respected. ”

“ As if the man had fix'd his face,
In many a solitary place,
Against the wind and open sky! ”

“ As many a wiser man hath done,
He left a trusty guide for one
That might his steps betray.
To a thick wood he soon is brought
Where cheerfully his course he weaves,
And whistling loud may yet be heard,
Though often buried, like a bird
Darkling among the boughs and leaves. ”

“ There's something in a flying horse,
And something in a huge balloon;
But through the clouds I'll never float
Until I have a little Boat,
Whose shape is like the crescent-moon. ”

“ Mr. W. WESTALL'S VIEWS OF THE CAVES, &c.
IN YORKSHIRE.
The following Sonnets having lately appeared in Periodical
Publications are here reprinted.
SONNETS.
I.
Pure element of waters! wheresoe'er
Thou dost forsake thy subterranean haunts,
Green herbs, bright flowers, and berry-bearing plants,
—Rise into life and in thy train appear:
And, through the sunny portion of the year,
Swift insects shine, thy hovering pursuivants ”

“ Printed by Strahan and Spottiswoode,
Printers-Street, London.
↑ Waters (as Mr. Westall informs us in the letter-press prefixed to his admirable views) are invariably found to flow through these caverns. ”