625 More than inherent liveliness and power. How oft amid those overflowing streets Have I gone forward with the Crowd, and said Unto myself, 'The face of every one That passes by me is a mystery!'
630 Thus have I looked, nor ceased to look, oppressed By thoughts of what and whither, when and how, Until the Shapes before my eyes became A second-sight procession, such as glides Over still mountains, or appears in dreams.
635 And once, far-travelled in such mood, beyond The reach of common indication, lost Amid the moving pageant, I was smitten Abruptly with the view (a sight not rare) Of a blind Beggar who, with upright face,
640 Stood propped against a Wall; upon his chest Wearing a written paper to explain His Story, whence he came, and who he was. Caught by the spectacle, my mind turned round As with the might of waters; an apt type
645 This Label seemed, of the utmost we can know Both of ourselves and of the universe; And on the Shape of that unmoving Man, His steadfast face, and sightless eyes, I gazed As if admonished from another world.
650 Though reared upon the base of outward things, Structures like these the excited Spirit mainly Builds for herself. Scenes different there are, Full-formed, that take, with small internal help, Possession of the faculties?the peace
655 That comes with night; the deep solemnity Of Nature's intermediate hours of rest, When the great tide of human life stands still, The business of the day to come?unborn, Of that gone by?locked up as in the grave;2
660 The blended calmness of the heavens and earth,
Moonlight, and stars, and empty streets, and sounds Unfrequent as in deserts: at late hours Of winter evenings when unwholesome rains Are falling hard, with people yet astir,
665 The feeble salutation from the voice Of some unhappy woman,3 now and then Heard as we pass; when no one looks about, Nothing is listened to. But these, I fear, Are falsely catalogued;4 things that are, are not,
670 As the mind answers to them, or the heart
2. The sonnet 'Composed upon Westminster 4. Mistakenly classified, because what things are Bridge' describes a similar response to London depends on the attitude with which they are per- when its 'mighty heart is lying still.' ceived. 3. Perhaps a prostitute.
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36 6 / WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Is prompt or slow to feel. What say you, then, To times when half the City shall break out Full of one passion, vengeance, rage, or fear? To executions,s to a Street on fire,
675 Mobs, riots, or rejoicings? From these sights Take one, that annual Festival, the Fair Holden where Martyrs suffered in past time, And named of St. Bartholomew;6 there see A work completed to our hands, that lays,
680 If any spectacle on earth can do, The whole creative powers of Man asleep! For once the Muse's help will we implore, And she shall lodge us, wafted on her wings, Above the press and danger of the Crowd,
685 Upon some Shewman's platform. What a shock For eyes and ears! what anarchy and din Barbarian and infernal?a phantasma7 Monstrous in color, motion, shape, sight, sound! Below, the open space, through every nook
690 Of the wide area, twinkles, is alive With heads; the midway region and above Is thronged with staring pictures, and huge scrolls, Dumb proclamations of the Prodigies! With chattering monkeys dangling from their poles,
695 And children whirling in their roundabouts;0 merry-go-rounds With those that stretch the neck, and strain the eyes; And crack the voice in rivalship, the crowd Inviting; with buffoons against buffoons Grimacing, writhing, screaming, him who grinds
700 The hurdy-gurdy,8 at the fiddle weaves, Rattles the salt-box,9 thumps the Kettle-drum; And him who at the trumpet puffs his cheeks; The silver-collared Negro with his timbrel;0 tambourine Equestrians, tumblers, women, girls, and boys,
705 Blue-breeched, pink-vested, with high-towering plumes. ?All moveables of wonder from all parts And here, Albinos, painted-Indians, Dwarfs, The Horse of Knowledge, and the learned Pig,1 The Stone-eater, the Man that swallows fire?
710 Giants, Ventriloquists, the Invisible-girl, The Bust that speaks, and moves its goggling eyes, The Wax- work, Clock-work, all the marvellous craft Of modern Merlins,2 Wild-beasts, Puppet-shews, All out-o'th'-way, far- fetched, perverted things,3
5. Executions were public events in England until 8. A stringed instrument, sounded by a turning 1868. wheel covered by rosin. 6. This huge fair was long held in Smithfield, the 9. A wooden box, rattled and beaten with a stick. place where, on St. Bartholomew's Day, August 24, 1. Animals trained to tap out answers to arith- Protestants had been executed in Queen Mary's metic questions, etc. reign (1553-58). 2. Magicians. Merlin was the magician in Arthu7. Fantasy of a disordered mind. Perhaps sugges-rian romance. tive too of 'phantasmagoria,' the name given, start-3. Cf. Milton's description of Hell as containing ing in 1802, to the exhibition of optical illusions 'Perverse, ail monstrous, all prodigious things' that showmen mounted by means of a kind of slide {Paradise Lost 2.625). projector.
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THE PRELUDE, BOOK THIRTEENTH / 367
715 All freaks of Nature, all Promethean4 thoughts Of man; his dullness, madness, and their feats, All jumbled up together, to compose A Parliament of Monsters. Tents and Booths, Meanwhile, as if the whole were one vast mill,
720 Are vomiting, receiving, on all sides, Men, Women, three-years' Children, Babes in arms.
Oh blank confusion! true epitome Of what the mighty City is herself To thousands upon thousands of her Sons,
