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John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

Page 480

 
 
William Wordsworth. (1770–1850) (continued)
 
5050
    Wrongs unredressed, or insults unavenged.
          The Excursion.Book iii.
5051
    Monastic brotherhood, upon rock
Aerial.
          The Excursion.Book iii.
5052
    The intellectual power, through words and things,
Went sounding on a dim and perilous way! 1
          The Excursion.Book iii.
5053
    Society became my glittering bride,
And airy hopes my children.
          The Excursion.Book iii.
5054
    And the most difficult of tasks to keep
Heights which the soul is competent to gain.
          The Excursion.Book iv.
5055
    There is a luxury in self-dispraise;
And inward self-disparagement affords
To meditative spleen a grateful feast.
          The Excursion.Book iv.
5056
    Recognizes ever and anon
The breeze of Nature stirring in his soul.
          The Excursion.Book iv.
5057
    Pan himself,
The simple shepherd’s awe-inspiring god!
          The Excursion.Book iv.
5058
    I have seen
A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract
Of inland ground, applying to his ear
The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell,
To which, in silence hushed, his very soul
Listened intensely; and his countenance soon
Brightened with joy, for from within were heard
Murmurings, whereby the monitor expressed
Mysterious union with his native sea. 2
          The Excursion.Book iv.
5059
    So build we up the being that we are.
          The Excursion.Book iv.
 
Note 1.
See Quotation 4. [back]
Note 2.
But I have sinuous shell of pearly hue;
. . . . .
Shake one, and it awakens; then apply
Its polisht lips to your attentive ear,
And it remembers its august abodes,
And murmurs as the ocean murmurs there.
Walter Savage Landor: Gebir, book v. [back]