THE DAFFODILS. I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine They stretched in never-ending line Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they In such a jocund company: I gazed and gazed-but little thought For oft, when on my couch I lie These two lines were composed by Mrs. Wordsworth. 10 20 ODE TO DUTY. "Jam non consilio bonus, sed more eò perductus, ut non tantum rectè facere possim, sed nisi rectè facere non possim." [This Ode is on the model of Gray's Ode to Adversity, which is copied from Horace's Ode to Fortune.-WORDSWORTH.] Stern Daughter of the Voice of God! O Duty! if that name thou love When empty terrors overawe; From vain temptations dost set free; And calm'st the weary strife of frail humanity! There are who ask not if thine eye Be on them; who, in love and truth, Upon the genial sense of youth: Glad Hearts! without reproach or blot; Who do thy work, and know it not: Oh! if through confidence misplaced 10 They fail, thy saving arms, dread Power! around them cast. Even now, who, not unwisely bold, Live in the spirit of this creed; Yet seek thy firm support, according to their need. 20 I, loving freedom, and untried; No sport of every random gust, The task, in smoother walks to stray; But thee I now would serve more strictly, if I may. Through no disturbance of my soul, Or strong compunction in me wrought, My hopes no more must change their name, Stern Lawgiver! yet thou dost wear Flowers laugh before thee on their beds And fragrance in thy footing treads; Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong; 30 40 And the most ancient heavens, through Thee, are fresh and strong. To humbler functions, awful Power! I call thee: I myself commend And in the light of truth thy Bondman let me live! 50 CHARACTER OF THE HAPPY WARRIOR.1 -Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he In face of these doth exercise a power Is placable-because occasions rise So often that demand such sacrifice; More skilful in self-knowledge, even more pure, 'Tis he whose law is reason; who depends Upon that law as on the best of friends; 10 20 1 Written after the death of Nelson, whose name, except for one supposed blot, Wordsworth would have wished to connect with the poem; some elements are borrowed from the character of Wordsworth's sailor brother, John, who had been drowned but a short time before. Whence, in a state where men are tempted still A constant influence, a peculiar grace; Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined Come when it will, is equal to the need: -He who, though thus endued as with a sense Is yet a Soul whose master-bias leans To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes; It is his darling passion to approve; 30 40 50 60 |