If he had lived, of Him whom I deplore,0 mourn
This work of thine I blame not, but commend;
This sea in anger, and that dismal shore. 45 O 'tis a passionate Work!?yet wise and well,
Well chosen is the spirit that is here;
That Hulk? which labours in the deadly swell, ship
This rueful sky, this pageantry of fear! And this huge Castle, standing here sublime,
50 I love to see the look with which it braves,
Cased in the unfeeling armour of old time,
The lightning, the fierce wind, and trampling waves. Farewell, farewell the heart that lives alone,
Housed in a dream, at distance from the Kind!0 humankind
55 Such happiness, wherever it be known,
Is to be pitied; for 'tis surely blind. But welcome fortitude, and patient cheer,
And frequent sights of what is to be borne!
Such sights, or worse, as are before me here.?
60 Not without hope we suffer and we mourn. Summer 1806 1807
3. Captain John Wordsworth, William's brother, had been drowned in a shipwreck on February 5, 1805. He is referred to in lines 41?42.
.
IT IS A BEAUTEOUS EVENING / 317
SONNETS
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 18021
Earth has not any thing 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
5 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.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
10 In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
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! 1802 1807
It is a beauteous evening
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;
5 The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea:
Listen! the mighty Being is awake,
And doth with his eternal motion make
A sound like thunder?everlastingly.
Dear Child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here,2
10 If thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
Thou liest in Abraham's bosom3 all the year;
And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine,
God being with thee when we know it not. Aug. 1802 1807
