THE

POETICAL WORKS

OF

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH,

D. C. L., POET LAUREATE, ETC., ETC.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by

LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

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.