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William Wordsworth
322 quotes
“I travelled among unknown men, In lands beyond the sea; Nor, England! did I know till then What love I bore to thee.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1798 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I Travelled among Unknown Men, st. 1 (wr. 1798–1801; pub. 1807)
“Much converse do I find in thee, Historian of my infancy! Float near me; do not yet depart! Dead times revive in thee: Thou bring'st, gay creature as thou art! A solemn image to my heart.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To a Butterfly ("Stay Near Me"), st. 1 (wr. 1801; pub. 1807)
“Behold, within the leafy shade, Those bright blue eggs together laid! On me the chance-discovered sight Gleamed like a vision of delight.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Sparrow's Nest, st. 1 (wr. 1801; pub. 1807)
“She gave me eyes, she gave me ears; And humble cares,and delicate fears; A heart, the fountain of sweet tears; And love, and thought, and joy.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Sparrow's Nest, st. 2 (wr. 1801; pub. 1807)
“Sweet childish days, that were as long As twenty days are now.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To a Butterfly ("I've Watched You Now a Full Half-Hour"), st. 2 (wr. 1801; pub. 1807)
“Like an army defeated The snow hath retreated, And now doth fare ill On the top of the bare hill; The Ploughboy is whooping—anon—anon! There's joy in the mountains: There's life in the fountains; Small clouds are sailing, Blue sky prevailing; The rain is over and gone.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Written in March, st. 2 (wr. 1801; pub. 1807)
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Rainbow ("My Heart Leaps Up") (wr. 1802; pub. 1807); the last three lines form the first lines of the long Ode: Intimations of Immortality begun the next day.
“Earth has not anything to show more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty: This City now doth, like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie Open unto the fields and to the sky; All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802, l. 1 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! The river glideth at his own sweet will: Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; And all that mighty heart is lying still!”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802, l. 11 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“Rapine, avarice, expense This is idolatry; and these we adore: Plain living and high thinking are no more: The homely beauty of the good old cause Is gone; our peace, our fearful innocence, And pure religion breathing household laws.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Written in London, September 1802, l. 9 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“O for a single hour of that Dundee, Who on that day the word of onset gave!”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In the Pass of Killicranky ("Six thousand Veterans"), l. 11 (wr. 1803; pub. 1807)
“Pleasures newly found are sweet When they lie about our feet.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To the Small Celandine ("Pleasures Newly Found are Sweet"), st. 1 (wr. 1803; pub. 1807)
“Every gift of noble origin Is breathed upon by Hope's perpetual breath.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: These Times, l. 10 (wr. 1803; pub. 1815)
“Hail to thee, far above the rest In joy of voice and pinion! Thou, linnet! in thy green array, Presiding spirit here to-day, Dost lead the revels of the May; And this is thy dominion.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Green Linnet, st. 2 (wr. 1803; pub. 1807)
“There is a Yew-tree, pride of Lorton Vale, Which to this day stands single, in the midst Of its own darkness, as it stood of yore.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Yew-Trees, l. 1 (wr. 1803; pub. 1815)
“Of vast circumference and gloom profound, This solitary Tree! A living thing Produced too slowly ever to decay; Of form and aspect too magnificent To be destroyed.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Yew-Trees, l. 9 (wr. 1803; pub. 1815)
“Bright flower! whose home is everywhere Bold in maternal nature's care And all the long year through the heir Of joy or sorrow, Methinks that there abides in thee Some concord with humanity, Given to no other flower I see The forest through.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To the Daisy ("Bright Flower, Whose Home is Every Where!"), st. 1 (wr. 1803; pub. 1807)
“O Blithe newcomer! I have heard, I hear thee and rejoice. O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice?”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To the Cuckoo, st. 1 (wr. 1804; pub. 1807)
“No bird, but an invisible thing, A voice, a mystery.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To the Cuckoo, st. 4 (wr. 1804; pub. 1807)
“Thou unassuming Common-place Of Nature, with that homely face, And yet with something of a grace, Which Love makes for thee!”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To the Daisy ("With Little Here to Do or See"), st. 1 (wr. 1805; pub. 1807)
“Oft on the dappled turf at ease I sit, and play with similes, Loose types of things through all degrees.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To the Daisy ("With Little Here to Do or See"), st. 2 (wr. 1805; pub. 1807; rev. 1820)
“The light that never was, on sea or land, The consecration, and the poet's dream.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Elegiac Stanzas. Suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle in a Storm, st. 4 (wr. 1805; pub. 1807)
“Dear Child of Nature, let them rail!”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To a Young Lady, st. 1 (wr. 1805; pub. 1807)
“Thou, while thy babes around thee cling, Shalt show us how divine a thing A Woman may be made.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To a Young Lady, st. 2 (wr. 1805; pub. 1807)
“But an old age serene and bright, And lovely as a Lapland night, Shall lead thee to thy grave.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To a Young Lady, st. 3 (wr. 1805; pub. 1807)
“She hath smiles to earth unknown— Smiles that with motion of their own Do spread, and sink, and rise.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cancelled lines originally in Louisa, st. 2 (wr. 1805; pub. 1807)
“Like—but oh, how different!”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1806 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Yes, It Was the Mountain Echo, st. 2 (wr. 1806; pub. 1827)
“In truth the prison, unto which we doom Ourselves, no prison is.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1806 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nuns Fret Not, l. 8 (wr. 1806; pub. 1807)
“The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The World Is Too Much with Us, l. 1 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The World Is Too Much with Us, l. 9 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“Where lies the Land to which yon Ship must go? Fresh as a lark mounting at break of day, Festively she puts forth in trim array.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1806 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Where Lies the Land?, l. 1 (wr. 1806; pub. 1807)
“Come, blessed barrier between day and day, Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health!”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1806 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Sleep ("A Flock of Sheep"), l. 13 (wr. 1806; pub. 1807)
“Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know, Are a substantial world, both pure and good: Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, Our pastime and our happiness will grow.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1806 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Personal Talk. Sonnets, no. 3 (wr. 1806; pub. 1807)
“Every great and original writer, in proportion as he is great and original, must himself create the taste by which he is to be relished.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1807 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Lady Beaumont (21 May 1807)
“It is a beauteous evening, calm and free, The holy time is quiet as a Nun Breathless with adoration; the broad sun Is sinking down in its tranquillity; The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: It Is a Beautious Evening, l. 1 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year; And worship'st at the Temple's inner shrine, God being with thee when we know it not.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: It Is a Beautious Evening, l. 12 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee; And was the safeguard of the west: the worth Of Venice did not fall below her birth, Venice, the eldest Child of Liberty.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic, l. 1 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade Of that which once was great, is passed away.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic, l. 13 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“Thou has left behind Powers that will work for thee,—air, earth, and skies! There 's not a breathing of the common wind That will forget thee; thou hast great allies; Thy friends are exultations, agonies, And love, and man's unconquerable mind.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1807 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Toussaint L'Ouverture, l. 12 (1807)
“Milton! thou should'st be living at this hour: England hath need of thee: she is a fen Of stagnant waters.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: London, 1802, l. 1 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“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.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1802 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: London, 1802, l. 9 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)
“We must be free or die, who speak the tongue That Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals hold Which Milton held.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1807 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: It Is Not to Be Thought Of, l. 11 (1807)
“He sang of love, with quiet blending, Slow to begin, and never ending; Of serious faith, and inward glee; That was the song,—the song for me!”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1807 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: O Nightingale! Thou Surely Art, l. 17 (1807)
“Two Voices are there; one is of the sea, One of the mountains; each a mighty Voice.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1807 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thought of a Briton on the Subjugation of Switzerland, l. 1 (1807)
“Love had he found in huts where poor men lie; His daily teachers had been woods and rills, The silence that is in the starry sky, The sleep that is among the lonely hills.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1807 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle, l. 161 (1807)
“Action is transitory—a step, a blow— The motion of a muscle—this way or that— 'Tis done; and in the after-vacancy We wonder at ourselves like men betrayed.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1807 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The White Doe of Rylstone, l. 1 (1807)
“A few strong instincts and a few plain rules, Among the herdsmen of the Alps, have wrought More for mankind at this unhappy day Then all the pride of intellect and thought?”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1809 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Alas! What Boots the Long Laborious Quest?, l. 11 (1809)
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1812 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his Wife (April 29 1812)
“A cheerful life is what the Muses love, A soaring spirit is their prime delight.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1814 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From the Dark Chambers of Dejection Freed, l. 13 (1814)
“But shapes that come not at an earthly call, Will not depart when mortal voices bid.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) first seen 1814 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dion, st. 5 (1814)