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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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PART I. FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO BRITAIN, TO THE CONSUMMATION OF THE PAPAL DOMINION.
 I. 
I. INTRODUCTION.
 II. 
II. CONJECTURES.
 III. 
III. TREPIDATION OF THE DRUIDS.
 IV. 
IV. DRUIDICAL EXCOMMUNICATION.
 V. 
V. UNCERTAINTY.
 VI. 
VI. PERSECUTION.
 VII. 
VII. RECOVERY.
 VIII. 
VIII. TEMPTATIONS FROM ROMAN REFINEMENTS.
 IX. 
IX. DISSENSIONS.
 X. 
X. STRUGGLE OF THE BRITONS AGAINST THE BARBARIANS.
 XI. 
XI. SAXON CONQUEST.
 XII. 
XII. MONASTERY OF OLD BANGOR .
 XIII. 
XIII. CASUAL INCITEMENT.
 XIV. 
XIV GLAD TIDINGS.
 XV. 
XV. PAULINUS
 XVI. 
XVI. PERSUASION.
 XVII. 
XVII. CONVERSION.
 XVIII. 
XVIII. APOLOGY.
 XIX. 
XIX. PRIMITIVE SAXON CLERGY.
 XX. 
XX. OTHER INFLUENCES.
 XXI. 
XXI. SECLUSION.
 XXII. 
XXII. CONTINUED.
 XXIII. 
XXIII. REPROOF.
 XXIV. 
XXIV. SAXON MONASTERIES, AND LIGHTS AND SHADES OF THE RELIGION.
 XXV. 
XXV. MISSIONS AND TRAVELS.
 XXVI. 
XXVI. ALFRED.
 XXVII. 
XXVII. HIS DESCENDANTS.
 XXVIII. 
XXVIII. INFLUENCE ABUSED.
 XXIX. 
XXIX. DANISH CONQUESTS.
 XXX. 
XXX. CANUTE.
 XXXI. 
XXXI. THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
 XXXII. 
XXXII.
 XXXIII. 
XXXIII. THE COUNCIL OF CLERMONT.
 XXXIV. 
XXXIV. CRUSADES.
 XXXV. 
XXXV. RICHARD I.
 XXXVI. 
XXXVI. AN INTERDICT.
 XXXVII. 
XXXVII. PAPAL ABUSES.
 XXXVIII. 
XXXVIII. SCENE IN VENICE.
 XXXIX. 
XXXIX. PAPAL DOMINION.
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PART II. TO THE CLOSE OF THE TROUBLES IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I.
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PART III. FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE PRESENT TIMES.
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EVENING VOLUNTARIES.
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POEMS, COMPOSED OR SUGGESTED DURING A TOUR, IN THE SUMMER OF 1833.
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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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184

V. TO MY SISTER.

It is the first mild day of March:
Each minute sweeter than before
The redbreast sings from the tall larch
That stands beside our door.
There is a blessing in the air,
Which seems a sense of joy to yield
To the bare trees, and mountains bare,
And grass in the green field.
My sister! ('tis a wish of mine)
Now that our morning meal is done,
Make haste, your morning task resign;
Come forth and feel the sun.
Edward will come with you;—and, pray,
Put on with speed your woodland dress;
And bring no book: for this one day
We'll give to idleness.
No joyless forms shall regulate
Our living calendar:
We from to-day, my Friend, will date
The opening of the year.
Love, now a universal birth,
From heart to heart is stealing,
From earth to man, from man to earth:
—It is the hour of feeling.
185

One moment now may give us more
Than years of toiling reason:
Our minds shall drink at every pore
The spirit of the season.
Some silent laws our hearts will make,
Which they shall long obey:
We for the year to come may take
Our temper from to-day.
And from the blessed power that rolls
About, below, above,
We'll frame the measure of our souls:
They shall be tuned to love.
Then come, my Sister! come, I pray,
With speed put on your woodland dress;
And bring no book: for this one day
We'll give to idleness.
1798.
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