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The poetical works of William Wordsworth

... In six volumes ... A new edition
Wordsworth, William (1770-1850)

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VOL. I.
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VOL. II.
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VOL. III.
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MEMORIALS OF A TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 1803.
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MEMORIALS OF A TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 1814.
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POEMS DEDICATED TO NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE AND LIBERTY.
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PART I.
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PART II.
 I. 
I. ON A CELEBRATED EVENT IN ANCIENT HISTORY.
 II. 
II. UPON THE SAME EVENT.
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III. TO THOMAS CLARKSON, ON THE FINAL PASSING OF THE BILL FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE. MARCH, 1807.
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IV. A PROPHECY. FEBRUARY, 1807.
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V. COMPOSED BY THE SIDE OF GRASMERE LAKE. 1807.
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VI.
 VII. 
VII. COMPOSED WHILE THE AUTHOR WAS ENGAGED IN WRITING A TRACT, OCCASIONED BY THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA.
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VIII. COMPOSED AT THE SAME TIME AND ON THE SAME OCCASION.
 IX. 
IX. HOFFER.
 X. 
X.
 XI. 
XI. FEELINGS OF THE TYROLESE.
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XII.
 XIII. 
XIII.
 XIV. 
XIV.
 XV. 
XV. ON THE FINAL SUBMISSION OF THE TYROLESE.
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XVI.
 XVII. 
XVII.
 XVIII. 
XVIII.
 XIX. 
XIX.
 XX. 
XX.
 XXI. 
XXI.
 XXII. 
XXII.
 XXIII. 
XXIII.
 XXIV. 
XXIV.
 XXV. 
XXV. FEELINGS OF A NOBLE BISCAYAN AT ONE OF THOSE FUNERALS.
 XXVI. 
XXVI. THE OAK OF GUERNICA.
 XXVII. 
XXVII. INDIGNATION OF A HIGH-MINDED SPANIARD.
 XXVIII. 
XXVIII.
 XXIX. 
XXIX.
 XXX. 
XXX. THE FRENCH AND THE SPANISH GUERILLAS.
 XXXI. 
XXXI. SPANISH GUERILLAS.
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XXXII.
 XXXIII. 
XXXIII.
 XXXIV. 
XXXIV. THE FRENCH ARMY IN RUSSIA.
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XXXV. ON THE SAME OCCASION.
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XXXVI.
 XXXVII. 
XXXVII. THE GERMANS ON THE HEIGHTS OF HOCK HEIM.
 XXXVIII. 
XXXVIII.
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XXXIX. ODE.
 XL. 
XL. FEELINGS OF A FRENCH ROYALIST, ON THE DISINTERMENT OF THE REMAINS OF THE DUKE D'ENGHIEN.
 XLI. 
XLI. OCCASIONED BY THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.
 XLII. 
XLII. SIEGE OF VIENNA RAISED BY JOHN SOBIESKI.
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XLIII. OCCASIONED BY THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.
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XLIV.
 XLV. 
XLV. ODE.
 XLVI. 
XLVI. ODE.
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MEMORIALS OF A TOUR ON THE CONTINENT. 1820.
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MEMORIALS OF A TOUR IN ITALY. 1837.
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THE RIVER DUDDON.
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YARROW REVISITED, AND OTHER POEMS,
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VOL. IV.
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VOL. V.
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[volume]

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XII.

[Alas! what boots the long laborious quest]

Alas! what boots the long laborious quest
Of moral prudence, sought through good and ill;
Or pains abstruse—to elevate the will,
And lead us on to that transcendent rest
Where every passion shall the sway attest
Of Reason, seated on her sovereign hill;
What is it but a vain and curious skill,
If sapient Germany must lie deprest,
Beneath the brutal sword?—Her haughty Schools
Shall blush; and may not we with sorrow say,
A few strong instincts and a few plain rules,
Among the herdsmen of the Alps, have wrought
More for mankind at this unhappy day
Than all the pride of intellect and thought?
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