William Wordsworth
England
7 Apr 1770 // 23 Apr 1850
Poet
7 Apr 1770 // 23 Apr 1850
Poet
Quotes
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Sad fancies do we then affect,
In luxury of disrespect
To our own prodigal excess
Of too familiar happiness.
In luxury of disrespect
To our own prodigal excess
Of too familiar happiness.
Ode to Lycoris
But thou that didst appear so fair
To fond imagination,
Dost rival in the light of day
Her delicate creation.
To fond imagination,
Dost rival in the light of day
Her delicate creation.
Yarrow Visited
A simple child
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?
We are Seven
We must be free or die who speak the tongue
That Shakespeare spake, the faith and morals hold
Which Milton held.
That Shakespeare spake, the faith and morals hold
Which Milton held.
There is a luxury in self-dispraise;
And inward self-disparagement affords
To meditative spleen a grateful feast.
And inward self-disparagement affords
To meditative spleen a grateful feast.
The Excursion
Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath passed away a glory from the earth.
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath passed away a glory from the earth.
Intimations of Immortality. Stanza 2
She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and oh
The difference to me!
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and oh
The difference to me!
She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Who, doomed to go in company with Pain
And Fear and Bloodshed, - miserable train! -
Turns his necessity to glorious gain.
And Fear and Bloodshed, - miserable train! -
Turns his necessity to glorious gain.
Character of the Happy Warrior
When his veering gait
And every motion of his starry train
Seem governed by a strain
Of music, audible to him alone.
And every motion of his starry train
Seem governed by a strain
Of music, audible to him alone.
The Triad
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays