The little hedgerow birds,
That peck along the roads, regard him not.
He travels on, and in his face, his step,
His gait, is one expression: every limb,
His look and bending figure, all bespeak
A man who does not move with pain, but moves
With thought.—He is insensibly subdued
To settled quiet: he is one by whom
All effort seems forgotten; one to whom
Long patience hath such mild composure given,
That patience now doth seem a thing of which
He hath no need. He is by nature led
To peace so perfect that the young behold
With envy, what the Old Man hardly feels.
Notes
A SKETCH.
Extra lines - found @: http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/lyrical-ballads-vol1/3/
--I asked him whither he was bound, and what
The object of his journey; he replied
That he was going many miles to take
A last leave of his son, a mariner,
Who from a sea-fight had been brought to Falmouth,
And there was lying in an hospital.
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Well W.W. had a way with words. The last two lines here say a lot. Thanks for sharing this with us.
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Peaceful......
Your poem took me back in time to Old England for some reason. I truly felt in that period of time. Muchas Gracias. -
Alina isn't incorrect,
Composed april-june 1797. first published 1798 in lyrical ballads. from 1800 the title became simply 'animal tranquility and decay, a sketch' (dropping ' old man travelling'). In the collected poems of 1845 the last two words, 'a sketch' were also dropped.
lines 15 - 20 of the poem were dropped in versions printed from 1805 onwards - they are as follows:
'- I asked him whither he was bound, and what
The object of his journey; He replied
'Sir! I am going many miles to take
A last leave of my son, a mariner,
Who from a sea-fight has been brought to falmouth,
And there is dying in an hospital.'' -
A grand piece that speaks of the romantic view shared by many of that time. Often they saw nature in ways of our own world, and not as its own, thus when the poets spoke, they tended to put things in a human texture.
This is a prime example of that view, where everything is good and peaceful.
A beautifl piece! -
great poem by Mr. Wordsworth
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I checked in Wordsworth's Poetical Works (1849-1850) it dated it 1798 (which I haved edited that into above) but states the complete version, original version, is 14 lines long, it's a 'sonnet' -- it's complete.
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