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William Wordsworth on New Year

1770–1850 England

← All quotes by William Wordsworth

9 quotes

"A jolly place," said he, "in times of old!
But something ails it now: the spot is cursed."

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed (1919)

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago.

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed (1919)

Delivered from the galling yoke of time.

As high as we have mounted in delight,
In our dejection do we sink as low.

Resolution and Independence (1807)

Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower.

Is Man
A child of hope? Do generations press
On generations, without progress made?
Halts the individual, ere his hairs be gray,
Perforce?

The Excursion (1814)

Hopes; what are they?—Beads of morning
Strung on slender blades of grass;
Or a spider's web adorning
In a straight and treacherous pass.

From the sweet thoughts of home
And from all hope I was forever hurled.
For me—farthest from earthly port to roam
Was best, could I but shun the spot where man might come.

Lyrical Ballads (1798)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: William Wordsworth (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.