The poetical works of William Wordsworth ... In six volumes ... A new edition |
![]() | I. |
![]() | II. |
![]() | III. |
![]() | IV. |
![]() | V. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
I. |
II. |
III. |
IV. |
V. |
VI. |
VII. |
VIII. |
IX. |
X. |
![]() | XI. |
XII. |
XIII. |
XIV. |
XV. |
XVI. |
XVII. |
![]() |
![]() | VI. |
![]() | The poetical works of William Wordsworth | ![]() |
XII.
[Alas! what boots the long laborious quest]
Alas! what boots the long laborious questOf 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?
![]() | The poetical works of William Wordsworth | ![]() |