The Enfolded Prelude: Book Thirteenth
1805 text is in green 1850 text is in purple
From Nature doth emotion come, Imagination and moods 3
Of calmness equally are Nature's gift:
This is her glory these two attributes
Are sister horns that constitute her strength;
This twofold influence is the sun Taste, How Impaired and shower
Of all her bounties, both in originRestored—Concluded
From Nature doth emotion come, and moods
Of calmness equally are Nature's gift:
This is her glory; these two attributes
Are sister horns that constitute her strength.
And end alike benignant. Hence it is
That genius, which exists Genius, born to thrive by interchange
Of peace and excitation, finds in her
His best and purest friend friend; from her receives
That energy by which he seeks the truth,
Is rouzed, aspires, grasps, struggles, wishes, craves
From her that happy stillness of the mind
Which fits him to receive it when unsought.
Such benefit may souls of the humblest frameintellects
Partake of, each in their degree; 'tis mine
To speak of speak, what I myself have known and fell—
Sweet task, for words find easy way, inspired
By gratitude and confidence in truth.felt;
Smooth task! for words find easy way, inspired
By gratitude, and confidence in truth.
Long time in search of knowledge desperate,did I range
I was benighted The field of human life, in heart and mind, but nowmind
On all sides day began to reappear,Benighted; but, the dawn beginning now
And it was To re-appear, 'twas proved indeed that not in vain
I had been taught to reverence a powerPower
That is the very visible quality and shape
And image of right reason, reason; that matures
Her processes by steady laws, steadfast laws; gives birth
To no impatient or fallacious hopes,
No heat of passion or excessive zeal,
No vain conceits, conceits; provokes to no quick turns
Of self-applauding intellect, intellect; but liftstrains
The being into magnanimity,To meekness, and exalts by humble faith;
Holds up before the mind, mind intoxicate
With present objects objects, and the busy dance
Of things that pass away, a temperate shewshow
Of objects that endure endure; and by this course
Disposes her, when over-fondly set
On leaving her incumbrances behind,throwing off incumbrances, to seek
To seek in In man, and in the frame of lifesocial life,
Social and individual, what Whate'er there is
Desirable, affecting, good or fair,is desirable and good
Of kindred permanence, the gifts divineunchanged in form
And universal, the pervading gracefunction, or, through strict vicissitude
That hath been, is, Of life and shall be. death, revolving. Above all
Did Nature bring again this wiser mood,
More deeply reestablished in my soul,Were re-established now those watchful thoughts
Which, seeing little worthy or sublime
In what we blazon with the pompous namesHistorian's pen so much delights
Of To blazon power and action, energy detached
From moral purpose early tutored me
To look with feelings of fraternal love
Upon those the unassuming things that hold
A silent station in this beauteous world.
Thus moderated, thus composed, I found
Once more in man Man an object of delight,
Of pure imagination, and of love;
And, as the horizon of my mind enlarged,
Again I took the intellectual eye
For my instructor, studious more to see
Great truths, than touch and handle little ones.
Knowledge was given accordingly: accordingly; my trust
Was firmer Became more firm in the feelings which that had stood
The test of such a trial, trial; clearer far
My sense of what was excellent excellence of right and right,wrong:
The promise of the present time retired
Into its true proportion; sanguine schemes,
Ambitious virtues, projects, pleased me less; I sought
For present good in the life's familiar face of life,face,
And built thereon my hopes of good to come.
With settling judgements judgments now of what would last,last
And what would disappear; prepared to find
Ambition, Presumption, folly, madness, in the men
Who thrust themselves upon this the passive world
As rulers Rulers of the world world; to see in thesethese,
Even when the public welfare is their aimaim,
Plans without thought, or bottomed built on false thoughttheories
And false philosophy; Vague and unsound; and having brought to test
Of solid life and true result the books
Of modern statists, statists to their proper test,
Life, human life, with all its sacred claims
Of sex and thereby perceivedage, and heaven-descended rights,
The utter hollowness Mortal, or those beyond the reach of what we namedeath;
The wealth And having thus discerned how dire a thing
Is worshipped in that idol proudly named
"The Wealth of nations, where Nations," 'where' alone that wealth
Is lodged, and how encreased; increased; and having gained
A more judicious knowledge of what makesthe worth
The And dignity of individual man,
No composition of the brain, but man—
Of man, no composition of the thought,
Abstraction, shadow, image, but the man
Of whom we read, the man whom we behold
With our own eyes I could not but inquire,
Not with less interest than heretofore,
But greater, though in spirit more subdued,
Why is this glorious creature to be found
One only in ten thousand? What one is,
Why may not many be? What bars are thrown
By Nature in the way of such a hope?
Our animal wants and the necessities
Which they impose, are these the obstacles?—
If not, then others vanish into air.
Such meditations bred an anxious wishOf whom we read, the man whom we behold
To ascertain how much With our own eyes I could not but inquire—
Not with less interest than heretofore,
But greater, though in spirit more subdued—
Why is this glorious creature to be found
One only in ten thousand? What one is,
Why may not millions be? What bars are thrown
By Nature in the way of such a hope?
Our animal appetites and daily wants,
Are these obstructions insurmountable?
If not, then others vanish into air.
"Inspect the basis of real worth,the social pile:
And genuine knowledge, and true power Inquire," said I, "how much of mind,mental power
Did at this day exist in those And genuine virtue they possess who livedlive
By bodily labour, toil, labour far exceedingexceeding far
Their due proportion, under all the weight
Of that injustice which upon ourselves
By composition of society
Ourselves entail. To frame such estimateentail." Such estimate to frame
I chiefly looked (what need to look beyond?)
Among the natural abodes of men,
Fields with their rural works works; recalled to mind
My earliest notices, notices; with these compared
The observations of my made in later youthyouth,
Continued downwards And to that very day.day continued. For, the time
For time had Had never been in which the throeswhen throes of mighty Nations
And mighty hopes of nations, and the stirworld's tumult unto me could yield,
How far soe'er transported and possessed,
Full measure of content; but still I craved
An intermingling of distinct regards
And tumult truths of the world, to me could yield—
How far soe'er transported and possessed—
Full measure of content, but still I craved
An intermixture of distinct regards
And truths of individual sympathy
Nearer ourselves. individual sympathy
Nearer ourselves. Such often might be gleaned
From that the great city City, else it must have been
A heart-depressing wilderness indeed,proved
Full soon to To me a wearisome abodeheart-depressing wilderness;
But much was wanting; wanting: therefore did I turn
To you, ye pathways pathways, and ye lonely roads,roads;
Sought you enriched with every thing everything I prized,
With human kindness kindnesses and with Nature's joy.simple joys.
Oh, Oh! next to one dear state of bliss, vouchsafedvouchsafed,
Alas Alas! to few in this untoward world,
The bliss of walking daily in life's prime
Through field or forest with the maid we lovelove,
While yet our hearts are young, while yet we breathe
Nothing but happiness, living in some place,lone nook,
Deep vale, or anywhere anywhere, the home of both,
From which it would be misery to stir—
Oh, next to such enjoyment of our youth,
In my esteem next to such dear delight,
Was that of wandering on from day to day
Where I could meditate in peace, and find
The knowledge which I love, and teach the sound
Of poet's music to strange fields and groves,
Converse with men, where if we meet a face
We almost meet a friend, on naked moors
With long, long ways before, by cottage bench,
Or well-spring where the weary traveller rests.stir:
Oh! next to such enjoyment of our youth,
In my esteem, next to such dear delight,
Was that of wandering on from day to day
Where I could meditate in peace, and cull
Knowledge that step by step might lead me on
To wisdom; or, as lightsome as a bird
Wafted upon the wind from distant lands,
Sing notes of greeting to strange fields or groves,
Which lacked not voice to welcome me in turn:
And, when that pleasant toil had ceased to please,
Converse with men, where if we meet a face
We almost meet a friend, on naked heaths
With long long ways before, by cottage bench,
Or well-spring where the weary traveller rests.
Who doth not love to follow with his eye
The windings of a public road: few sights there areway? the sight,
That please me more such Familiar object as it is, hath had powerwrought
O'er On my imagination since the dawnmorn
Of childhood, when its a disappearing lineline,
Seen One daily afar off, on one bare steeppresent to my eyes, that crossed
The naked summit of a far-off hill
Beyond the limits which that my feet had trod,
Was like a guide an invitation into eternity,space
At least to things unknown and without bound.Boundless, or guide into eternity.
Even Yes, something of the grandeur which invests
The mariner mariner, who sails the roaring sea
Through storm and darkness, early in my mind
Surrounded too Surrounded, too, the wanderers of the earth.—
Grandeur as much, and loveliness far more.earth;
Grandeur as much, and loveliness far more.
Awed have I been by strolling bedlamires;Bedlamires;
From many other uncouth vagrants, passedvagrants (passed
In fear, fear) have walked with quicker step step; but why
Take note of this? When I began to inquire,enquire,
To watch and question those I met, and heldspeak
Familiar talk with Without reserve to them, the lonely roads
Were open schools to me in which I daily read
With most delight the passions of mankind,
Whether by words, looks, sighs, or tears, revealed;
There saw into the depth of human souls—
Souls that appear to have no depth at all
To vulgar eyes. souls,
Souls that appear to have no depth at all
To careless eyes. And now, now convinced at heart
How little that those formalities, to which which
With overweening trust alone we give
The name of education hath Education, have to do
With real feeling and just sense, sense; how vain
A correspondence with the talking world
Proves to the most most; and called to make good search
If man's estate, by doom of Nature yoked
With toil, is be therefore yoked with ignorance,ignorance;
If virtue be indeed so hard to rear,
And intellectual strength so rare a boon—
I prized such walks still more; for there I found
Hope to my hope, and to my pleasure peace
And steadiness, and healing and repose
To every angry passion. —
I prized such walks still more, for there I found
Hope to my hope, and to my pleasure peace
And steadiness, and healing and repose
To every angry passion. There I heard,
From mouths of lowly men obscure and of obscure,lowly, truths
A tale of honour Replete with honour; sounds in unison
With loftiest promises of good and fair.
There are who think that strong affections, affection, love
Known by whatever name, is falsely deemed
A gift (to gift, to use a term which they would use)use,
Of vulgar Nature nature; that its growth requires
Retirement, leisure, language purified
By manners thoughtful studied and elaborate—
That whoso feels such passion in excess
Must live within the very light and air
Of elegances that are made by man.elaborate;
That whoso feels such passion in its strength
Must live within the very light and air
Of courteous usages refined by art.
True it is, is it, where oppression worse than death
Salutes the being at his birth, where grace
Of culture hath been utterly unknown,
And poverty and labour in excess and povertyexcess
From day to day pre-occupy the ground
Of the affections, and to Nature's self
Oppose a deeper nature there indeednature; there, indeed,
Love cannot be; nor does it easily thrivethrive with ease
In Among the close and overcrowded haunts
Of cities, where the human heart is sick,
And the eye feeds it not, and cannot feed:
Thus far, no further, is that inference good.feed.
—.Yes, in those wanderings deeply did I feel
How we mislead each other, other; above allall,
How books mislead us looking for us, seeking their famereward
To judgements From judgments of the wealthy few, Few, who see
By artificial lights lights; how they debase
The many Many for the pleasure of those few,Few;
Effeminately level down the truth
To certain general notions notions, for the sake
Of being understood at once, or else
Through want of better knowledge in the menheads
Who frame them, That framed them; flattering thus our self-conceitself-conceit with words,
With pictures that That, while they most ambitiously set forth
The Extrinsic differences, the outside marks by whichoutward marks
Society Whereby society has parted man from man,man
Neglectful of From man, neglect the universal heart.
Here Here, calling up to mind what then I sawsaw,
A youthful traveller, and see daily now
Before me in In the familiar circuit of my rural neighbourhood—
Here might I pause, and bend in reverence
To Nature, and the power of human minds,
To men as they are men within themselves.home,
Here might I pause, and bend in reverence
To Nature, and the power of human minds,
To men as they are men within themselves.
How oft high service is performed withinwithin,
When all the external man is rude in shew,show,
Not like a temple rich with pomp and gold,
But a mere mountain-chapel such as shieldsmountain chapel, that protects
Its simple worshippers from sun and shower.
'Of these,' Of these, said I, 'shall shall be my song. Of song; of these,
If future years mature me for the task,
Will I record the praises, making verse
Deal boldly with substantial things things; in truth
And sanctity of passion passion, speak of these,
That justice may be done, obeisance paid
Where it is due. Thus due: thus haply shall I teach,
Inspire, Inspire; through unadulterated ears
Pour rapture, tenderness, and hope, my theme
No other than the very heart of man
As found among the best of those who live
Not unexalted by religious faith,
Not uninformed by books (good books, though few),
In Nature's presence thence may I select
Sorrow that is not sorrow but delight,
And miserable love that is not pain
To hear of, for the glory that redounds
Therefrom to human-kind and what we are.hope,—my theme
No other than the very heart of man,
As found among the best of those who live
Not unexalted by religious faith,
Nor uninformed by books, good books, though few—
In Nature's presence: thence may I select
Sorrow, that is not sorrow, but delight;
And miserable love, that is not pain
To hear of, for the glory that redounds
Therefrom to human kind, and what we are.
Be mine to follow with no timid step
Where knowledge leads me: it shall be my pride
That I have dared to tread this holy ground,
Speaking no dream dream, but things oracular,oracular;
Matter not lightly to be heard by those
Who to the letter of the outward promise
Do read the invisible soul, soul; by men adroit
In speech speech, and for communion with the world
Accomplished, Accomplished; minds whose faculties are then
Most active when they are most eloquent,
And elevated most when most admired.
Men may be found of other mold mould than these,
Who are their own upholders, to themselves
Encouragement, and energy, and will,
Expressing liveliest thoughts in lively words
As native passion dictates. Others, too,
There are among the walks of homely life
Still higher, men for contemplation framed,
Shy, and unpractised in the strife of phrase,phrase;
Meek men, whose very souls perhaps would sink
Beneath them, summoned to such intercourse:
Theirs is the language of the heavens, the power,
The thought, the image, and the silent joy;joy:
Words are but under-agents in their souls—
When they are grasping with their greatest strength
They do not breathe among them. This souls;
When they are grasping with their greatest strength,
They do not breathe among them: this I speak
In gratitude to God, who Who feeds our hearts
For his His own service, service; knoweth, loveth us,
When we are unregarded by the world.'world.
Also Also, about this time did I receive
Convictions still more strong than heretoforeheretofore,
Not only that the inner frame is good,
And graciously composed, but that, no less,
Nature through for all conditions hath a wants not power
To consecrate consecrate, if we have eyes to see—
The outside of her creatures, and to breathe
Grandeur upon the very humblest face
Of human life. see,
The outside of her creatures, and to breathe
Grandeur upon the very humblest face
Of human life. I felt that the array
Of outward circumstance act and circumstance, and visible formform,
Is mainly to the pleasure of the human mind
What passion makes it; them; that meanwhile the forms
Of Nature have a passion in themselvesthemselves,
That intermingles with those works of man
To which she summons him, him; although the works
Be mean, having have nothing lofty of their own;
And that the genius Genius of the poet Poet hence
May boldly take his way among mankind
Wherever Nature leads leads; that he hath stood
By Nature's side among the men of old,
And so shall stand for ever. Dearest friend,
Forgive me if I say that I, who longFriend!
Had harboured reverentially a thoughtIf thou partake the animating faith
That poets, Poets, even as prophets, Prophets, each with each
Connected in a mighty scheme of truth,
Have each for his own peculiar dower a sensefaculty,
By which he is enabled Heaven's gift, a sense that fits him to perceive
Something Objects unseen before forgive me, friend,before, thou wilt not blame
If I, the meanest The humblest of this band, had band who dares to hope
That unto me had him hath also been vouchsafed
An influx, insight that in some sort I possessedhe possesses,
A privilege, and that privilege whereby a work of mine,his,
Proceeding from the depth a source of untaught things,
Enduring Creative and creative, might enduring, may become
A power like one of Nature's.
Nature's. To such a mood,hope
Once above all a traveller at that timeNot less ambitious once among the wilds
Upon the plain of Sarum Of Sarum's Plain, my youthful spirit was I raised:raised;
There on There, as I ranged at will the pastoral downs without a trackdowns
To guide me, Trackless and smooth, or along paced the bare white roads
Lengthening in solitude their dreary line,
While through those vestiges Time with his retinue of ancient timesages fled
Backwards, nor checked his flight until I ranged, and by the solitude o'ercome,saw
I had a reverie and saw the past,Our dim ancestral Past in vision clear;
Saw multitudes of men, and and, here and therethere,