Quotes & Sayings About Wordsworth

The primal duties shine aloft, like stars;
The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless,
Are scattered at the feet of Man, like flowers. — William Wordsworth

The tears into his eyes were brought, And thanks and praises seemed to run So fast out of his heart, I thought They never would have done. -I've heard of hearts unkind, kind deeds With coldness still returning; Alas! the gratitude of men Hath oftener left me mourning. — William Wordsworth

I think Wordsworth was as surprised to see me as I was him. It can't be usual to go to your favorite memory only to find someone already there, admiring the view ahead of you. — Jasper Fforde

The vision and the faculty divine; Yet wanting the accomplishment of verse. — William Wordsworth

If thou art beautiful, and youth and thought endue thee with all truth-be strong;
be worthy of the grace of God. — William Wordsworth

The human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity who does not know this ... — William Wordsworth

getting and spending, we lay waste our powers ~ but like lemmings running headlong to the sea, we are oblivious. — William Wordsworth

...The happy Warrior... is he... who, doomed to go in company with pain, and fear, and bloodshed, miserable train turns his necessity to glorious gain; in face of these doth exercise a power which is our human nature's highest dower: controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereaves of their bad influence, and their good receives: by objects, which might force the soul to abate her feeling, rendered more compassionate; is placable- because occasions rise so often that demand such sacrifice; more skillful in self-knowledge, even more pure, as tempted more; more able to endure, as more exposed to suffering and distress; thence, also, more alive to tenderness. — William Wordsworth

Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of knowledge — William Wordsworth

The mind of man is a thousand times more beautiful than the earth on which he dwells. — William Wordsworth

That blessed mood in which the burthen of the mystery, in which the heavy and the weary weight of all this unintelligible world is lightened. — William Wordsworth

A deep distress has humanised my soul. — William Wordsworth

Up up and quit your books' is not an adjuration commonly thought advisable in universities but there are occasions -- as for instance, when studying Wordsworth when it might be advisable. — Joseph Wood Krutch

The thought of death sits easy on the man Who has been born and dies among the mountains. — William Wordsworth

But He is risen, a later star of dawn. — William Wordsworth

He [Wordsworth] invited his readers to abandon their usual perspective and to consider for a time how the world might look through other eyes, to shuttle between the human and the natural perspective. Why might this be interesting, or even inspiring? Perhaps because unhappiness can stem from only having one perspective to play with. — Alain De Botton

Friend is the one who showes the way and walks a piece of road with us — William Wordsworth

I kind of got inspired by [William] Wordsworth and [Samuel Taylor] Coleridge - I went the old traditional way of finding inspiration, I guess ... — Eliot Paulina Sumner

I thought about evolutionary historians who argued that walking was a central part of what it meant to be human. Our two-legged motion was what first differentiated us from the apes. It freed our hands for tools and carried us onthe long marches out of Africa. As a species, we colonized the world on foot. Most of human history was created through contacts conducted at walking pace, even when some rode horses. I thought of the pilgrimages to Compostela in Spain; to Mecca; to the source of the Ganges; and of wandering dervishes, sadhus; and friars who approached God on foot. The Buddha meditated by walking and Wordsworth composed sonnets while striding beside the lakes.
Bruce Chatwin concluded from all this that we would think and live better and be closer to our purpose as humans if we moved continually on foot across the surface of the earth. I was not sure I was living or thinking any better. — Rory Stewart

The childhood of today is the manhood of tomorrow — William Wordsworth

On a fair prospect some have looked, And felt, as I have heard them say, As if the moving time had been A thing as steadfast as the scene On which they gazed themselves away. — William Wordsworth

Look at the fate of summer flowers, which blow at daybreak, droop ere even-song. — William Wordsworth

Primroses, the Spring may love them; Summer knows but little of them. — William Wordsworth

If you like poetry let it be first-rate; Milton, Shakespeare, Thomson, Goldsmith, Pope (if you will, though I don't admire him), Scott, Byron, Camp[b]ell, Wordsworth, and Southey. Now don't
be startled at the names of Shakespeare and Byron. Both these were great men, and their works are like themselves. You will know how to choose the good and avoid the evil; the finest
passages are always the purest, the bad are invariably revolting, you will never wish to read them over twice. — Charlotte Bronte

A famous man is Robin Hood, The English ballad-singer's joy. — William Wordsworth

I, methought, while the sweet breath of heaven Was blowing on my body, felt within A correspondent breeze, that gently moved With quickening virtue, but is now become A tempest, a redundant energy, Vexing its own creation. — William Wordsworth

The light that never was, on sea or land; The consecration, and the Poet's dream. — William Wordsworth

O dearer far than light and life are dear. — William Wordsworth

Wisdom is oft-times nearer when we stoop
Than when we soar. — William Wordsworth

When we were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow Park we saw a few daffodils close to the waterside. But as we went along there were more and yet more and at last under the boughs of the trees, we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a county turnpike toad. I never saw daffodils so beautiful. They grew about the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake. — Dorothy Wordsworth

Everyone is a Wordsworth in certain moods, and every traveler seeks out places that every traveler has missed. — Pico Iyer

Recognizes ever and anon The breeze of Nature stirring in his soul. — William Wordsworth

The gods approve The depth, and not the tumult, of the soul. — William Wordsworth

To begin, begin. — William Wordsworth

Yon foaming flood seems motionless as ice;Its dizzy turbulence eludes the eye,Frozen by distance. — William Wordsworth

To character and success, two things, contradictory as they may seem, must go together ... humble dependence on God and manly reliance on self. — William Wordsworth

His high endeavours are an inward light That makes the path before him always bright. — William Wordsworth

A child, more than all other gifts That earth can offer to declining man, Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts. - WORDSWORTH. — George Eliot

Pictures deface walls more often than they decorate them. — William Wordsworth

A soul so pitiably forlorn, If such do on this earth abide, May season apathy with scorn, May turn indifference to pride; And still be not unblest- compared With him who grovels, self-debarred From all that lies within the scope Of holy faith and christian hope; Or, shipwrecked, kindles on the coast False fires, that others may be lost. — William Wordsworth

And when a damp Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand The thing became a trumpet; whence he blew Soul-animating strains,-alas! too few. — William Wordsworth

The oldest man he seemed that ever wore grey hairs. — William Wordsworth

Pleasure is spread through the earth In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find. — William Wordsworth

A primrose by the river's brim
A yellow rose was to him.
And it was nothing more — William Wordsworth

It is usually in better taste to praise an isolated action or a production of genius, than a man's character as a whole. — Elizabeth Wordsworth

We learned in the university to consider Wordsworth and Keats as Romantics. They were only a generation apart, but Wordsworth didn't even read Keats's book when he gave him a copy. — Thom Gunn

Curiously enough, while very small people have a never-failing sense of their own importance, very great ones are often easily disheartened and put out of conceit with themselves. — Elizabeth Wordsworth

Time may restore us in his course Goethe's sage mind and Byron's force: But where will Europe's latter hour Again find Wordsworth's healing power? — Matthew Arnold

Choice word and measured phrase above the reach Of ordinary men. — William Wordsworth

Before us lay a painful road, And guidance have I sought in duteous love From Wisdom's heavenly Father. Hence hath flowed Patience, with trust that, whatsoe'er the way Each takes in this high matter, all may move Cheered with the prospect of a brighter day. — William Wordsworth

Still glides the stream
and shall forever glide
its form remains its function never dies
while we the brave and the mighty and the wise
we men who in our youth defied the elements
must vanish-
be it so — William Wordsworth

Imagination, which in truth
Is but another name for absolute power
And clearest insight, amplitude of mind,
And reason, in her most exalted mood. — William Wordsworth

Me this uncharted freedom tires; I feel the weight of chance desires, My hopes no more must change their name, I long for a repose that ever is the same. — William Wordsworth

O joy! that in our embers
Is something that doth live. — William Wordsworth

As generations come and go, Their arts, their customs, ebb and flow; Fate, fortune, sweep strong powers away, And feeble, of themselves, decay. — William Wordsworth

The days are cold, the nights are long, The North wind sings a doleful song; Then hush again upon my breast; All merry things are now at rest, Save thee, my pretty love! — Dorothy Wordsworth

Such seem'd this Man, not all alive nor dead, Nor all asleep; in his extreme old age: His body was bent double, feet and head Coming together in their pilgrimage; As if some dire constraint of pain, or rage Of sickness felt by him in times long past, A more than human weight upon his frame had cast. — William Wordsworth

The sightless Milton, with his hair Around his placid temples curled; And Shakespeare at his side,-a freight, If clay could think and mind were weight, For him who bore the world! — William Wordsworth

If thou indeed derive thy light from Heaven,
Then, to the measure of that heaven-born light,
Shine, Poet! in thy place, and be content:
The stars pre-eminent in magnitude,
And they that from the zenith dart their beams,
(Visible though they be to half the earth,
Though half a sphere be conscious of their brightness)
Are yet of no diviner origin,
No purer essence, than the one that burns,
Like an untended watch-fire on the ridge
Of some dark mountain; or than those which seem
Humbly to hang, like twinkling winter lamps,
Among the branches of the leafless trees.
All are the undying offspring of one Sire:
Then, to the measure of the light vouchsafed,
Shine, Poet! in thy place, and be content. — William Wordsworth

Lines Written In Early Spring

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:--
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man? — William Wordsworth

Great God! I'd rather be a Pagan.... — William Wordsworth

When I was a junior, my school introduced badminton, which was clearly a P.E. department ploy to get me away from the wrestling room, and it worked, since the first time I played badminton was like the first time I tasted sushi or heard the Beatles or read Wordsworth. This was a sport? This counted for gym requirements? — Rob Sheffield

Ere we had reach'd the wish'd-for place, night fell: We were too late at least by one dark hour, — William Wordsworth

One moment now may give us more
Than fifty years of reason;
Our minds shall drink at every pore
The spirit of the season. — William Wordsworth

I've heard of hearts unkind, kind deeds
With coldness still returning;
Alas! the gratitude of men
Has oftener left me mourning. — William Wordsworth

This solitary Tree! a living thing Produced too slowly ever to decay; Of form and aspect too magnificent To be destroyed. — William Wordsworth

Surprised by joy- impatient as the Wind
I turned to share the transport
Oh! with whom
But thee, deep buried in the silent tomb,
That spot which no vicissitude can find?
Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind
But how could I forget thee? Through what power,
Even for the least division of an hour,
Have I been so beguiled as to be blind
To my most grievous loss?
That thought's return
Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore,
Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,
Knowing my heart's best treasure was no more;
That neither present time, nor years unborn
Could to my sight that heavenly face restore. — William Wordsworth

Small service is true service, while it lasts. — William Wordsworth

Up! up! my friend, and quit your books, Or surely you 'll grow double! Up! up! my friend, and clear your looks! Why all this toil and trouble? — William Wordsworth

Wordsworth went to the Lakes, but he was never a lake poet. He found in stones the sermons he had already hidden there. — Oscar Wilde

I have seen A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract Of inland ground, applying to his ear The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell; To which, in silence hushed, his very soul listened intensely; for from within were heard Murmurings whereby the monitor expressed Mysterious union with its native sea. Even such a shell the universe itself Is to the ear of faith; and there are times, I doubt not, when to you it doth impart Authentic tidings of invisible things, Of ebb and flow, and ever enduring power, And central peace, subsisting at the heart Of endless Agitation. — William Wordsworth

Golf is a day spent in a round of strenuous idleness. — William Wordsworth

Jimmy: One day, when I'm no longer spending my days running a sweet-stall, I may write a book about us all. It's all here. (slapping his forehead) Written in flames a mile high. And it won't be recollected in tranquillity either, picking daffodils with Auntie Wordsworth. It'll be recollected in fire, and blood. My blood. — John Osborne

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; — William Wordsworth

Dust as we are, the immortal spirit grows Like harmony in music; there is a dark Inscrutable workmanship that reconciles Discordant elements, makes them cling together In one society. — William Wordsworth

And often, glad no more, We wear a face of joy because We have been glad of yore. — William Wordsworth

By happy chance we saw A twofold image: on a grassy bank A snow-white ram, and in the crystal flood Another and the same! — William Wordsworth

Happier of happy though I be, like them I cannot take possession of the sky, mount with a thoughtless impulse, and wheel there, one of a mighty multitude whose way and motion is a harmony and dance magnificent. — William Wordsworth

Sweet Mercy! to the gates of heaven This minstrel lead, his sins forgiven; The rueful conflict, the heart riven With vain endeavour, And memory of Earth's bitter leaven Effaced forever. — William Wordsworth

What though the radiance that was once so bright, be now forever taken from my sight. Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower; We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind. — William Wordsworth

A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by One after one; the sound of rain, and bees Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas, Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky - I've thought of all by turns, and still I lie Sleepless ... — William Wordsworth

Duty were our games. — William Wordsworth

How many undervalue the power of simplicity ! But it is the real key to the heart. — William Wordsworth

Oh, be wise, Thou!
Instructed that true knowledge leads to love. — William Wordsworth

Those obstinate questionings Of sense and outward things,
Fallings from us, vanishings;
Blank misgivings of a Creature
Moving about in worlds not realised,
High instincts before which our mortal Nature
Did tremble like a guilty thing surprised — William Wordsworth

Thou unassuming common-place of Nature, with that homely face. — William Wordsworth

That mighty orb of song, The divine Milton. — William Wordsworth

For by superior energies; more strict affiance in each other; faith more firm in their unhallowed principles, the bad have fairly earned a victory over the weak, the vacillating, inconsistent good. — William Wordsworth

The homely beauty of the good old cause
Is gone — William Wordsworth

Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge - it is as immortal as the heart of man. — William Wordsworth

How does the meadow-flower its bloom
unfold?
Because the lovely little flower is free
Down to its root, and in that freedom
bold. — William Wordsworth

Rapt into still communion that transcends The imperfect offices of prayer and praise, His mind was a thanksgiving to the power That made him; it was blessedness and love! — William Wordsworth

Our meddlesome intellect misshapen the beauteous form of things. — William Wordsworth

The Poet binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society. — William Wordsworth

Far from the world I walk, and from all care. — William Wordsworth

But thou art with us, with us in the past,
The present, with us in the times to come.
There is no grief, no sorrow, no despair,
No languor, no dejection, no dismay,
No absence scarcely can there be, for those
Who love as we do. Speed thee well! — William Wordsworth

Milton, in his hand
The thing became a trumpet — William Wordsworth

Lady of the Mere, Sole-sitting by the shores of old romance. — William Wordsworth

Habit rules the unreflecting herd. — William Wordsworth

I cannot paint what then I was. — William Wordsworth