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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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VOL. IV.
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THE WHITE DOE OF RYLSTONE;
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ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS.
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EVENING VOLUNTARIES.
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POEMS, COMPOSED OR SUGGESTED DURING A TOUR, IN THE SUMMER OF 1833.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV. TO THE RIVER GRETA, NEAR KESWICK.
 V. 
V. TO THE RIVER DERWENT.
 VI. 
VI. IN SIGHT OF THE TOWN OF COCKERMOUTH.
 VII. 
VII. ADDRESS FROM THE SPIRIT OF COCKERMOUTH CASTLE.
 VIII. 
VIII. NUN'S WELL, BRIGHAM.
 IX. 
IX. TO A FRIEND.
 X. 
X. MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
 XI. 
XI. STANZAS SUGGESTED IN A STEAM-BOAT OFF SAINT BEES' HEADS, ON THE COAST OF CUMBERLAND.
 XII. 
XII. IN THE CHANNEL, BETWEEN THE COAST OF CUMBERLAND AND THE ISLE OF MAN.
 XIII. 
XIII. AT SEA OFF THE ISLE OF MAN.
 XIV. 
XIV.
 XV. 
XV. ON ENTERING DOUGLAS BAY, ISLE OF MAN.
 XVI. 
XVI. BY THE SEA-SHORE, ISLE OF MAN.
 XVII. 
XVII. ISLE OF MAN.
 XVIII. 
XVIII. ISLE OF MAN.
 XIX. 
XIX. BY A RETIRED MARINER.
 XX. 
XX. AT BALA-SALA, ISLE OF MAN.
 XXI. 
XXI. TYNWALD HILL.
 XXII. 
XXII.
 XXIII. 
XXIII. IN THE FRITH OF CLYDE, AILSA CRAG.
 XXIV. 
XXIV. ON THE FRITH OF CLYDE.
 XXV. 
XXV. ON REVISITING DUNOLLY CASTLE.
 XXVI. 
XXVI. THE DUNOLLY EAGLE.
 XXVII. 
XXVII. WRITTEN IN A BLANK LEAF OF MACPHERSON'S OSSIAN.
 XXVIII. 
XXVIII. CAVE OF STAFFA.
 XXIX. 
XXIX. CAVE OF STAFFA.
 XXX. 
XXX. CAVE OF STAFFA.
 XXXI. 
XXXI. FLOWERS ON THE TOP OF THE PILLARS AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE CAVE.
 XXXII. 
XXXII. IONA.
 XXIII. 
XXXIII. IONA.
 XXXIV. 
XXXIV. THE BLACK STONES OF IONA.
 XXXV. 
XXXV.
 XXXVI. 
XXXVI. GREENOCK.
 XXXVII. 
XXXVII.
 XXXVIII. 
XXXVIII. THE RIVER EDEN, CUMBERLAND.
 XXXIX. 
XXXIX. MONUMENT OF MRS. HOWARD,
 XL. 
XL. SUGGESTED BY THE FOREGOING.
 XLI. 
XLI. NUNNERY.
 XLII. 
XLII. STEAMBOATS, VIADUCTS, AND RAILWAYS.
 XLIII. 
XLIII. THE MONUMENT COMMONLY CALLED LONG MEG AND HER DAUGHTERS, NEAR THE RIVER EDEN.
 XLIV. 
XLIV. LOWTHER.
 XLV. 
XLV. TO THE EARL OF LONSDALE.
 XLVI. 
XLVI. THE SOMNAMBULIST.
 XLVII. 
XLVII. TO CORDELIA M---
 XLVIII. 
XLVIII.
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POEMS OF SENTIMENT AND REFLECTION.
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SONNETS DEDICATED TO LIBERTY AND ORDER.
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SONNETS UPON THE PUNISHMENT OF DEATH.
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VOL. V.
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[volume]

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164

XXVIII. CAVE OF STAFFA.

The reader may be tempted to exclaim, “How came this and the two following sonnets to be written, after the dissatisfaction expressed in the preceding one?” In fact, at the risk of incurring the reasonable displeasure of the master of the steam-boat, I returned to the cave, and explored it under circumstances more favourable to those imaginative impressions which it is so wonderfully fitted to make upon the mind.

We saw, but surely, in the motley crowd,
Not One of us has felt the far-famed sight;
How could we feel it? each the other's blight,
Hurried and hurrying, volatile and loud.
O for those motions only that invite
The Ghost of Fingal to his tuneful Cave
By the breeze entered, and wave after wave
Softly embosoming the timid light!
And by one Votary who at will might stand
Gazing and take into his mind and heart,
With undistracted reverence, the effect
Of those proportions where the almighty hand
That made the worlds, the sovereign Architect,
Has deigned to work as if with human Art!
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