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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.
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POEMS OF SENTIMENT AND REFLECTION.
 I. 
I. EXPOSTULATION AND REPLY.
 II. 
II. THE TABLES TURNED.
 III. 
III. LINES WRITTEN IN EARLY SPRING.
 IV. 
IV. A CHARACTER.
 V. 
V. TO MY SISTER.
 VI. 
VI. SIMON LEE, THE OLD HUNTSMAN;
 VII. 
VII. WRITTEN IN GERMANY.
 VIII. 
VIII. A POET'S EPITAPH.
 IX. 
IX. TO THE DAISY.
 X. 
X. MATTHEW.
 XI. 
XI. THE TWO APRIL MORNINGS.
 XII. 
XII. THE FOUNTAIN.
 XIII. 
XIII. PERSONAL TALK.
 XIV. 
XIV. ILLUSTRATED BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS.
 XV. 
XV. TO THE SPADE OF A FRIEND.
 XVI. 
XVI. A NIGHT THOUGHT.
 XVII. 
XVII. INCIDENT.
 XVIII. 
XVIII. TRIBUTE
 XIX. 
XIX. FIDELITY.
 XX. 
XX. ODE TO DUTY.
 XXI. 
XXI. CHARACTER OF THE HAPPY WARRIOR.
 XXII. 
XXII. THE FORCE OF PRAYER ;
 XXIII. 
XXIII. A FACT, AND AN IMAGINATION;
 XXIV. 
XXIV.
 XXV. 
XXV. ODE TO LYCORIS.
 XXVI. 
XXVI. TO THE SAME. [LYCORIS.]
 XXVII. 
XXVII.
 XXVIII. 
XXVIII. UPON THE SAME OCCASION.
 XXIX. 
XXIX. MEMORY.
 XXX. 
XXX.
 XXXI. 
XXXI. HUMANITY.
 XXXII. 
XXXII.
 XXXIII. 
XXXIII. THOUGHTS ON THE SEASONS.
 XXXIV. 
XXXIV. TO ------.
 XXXV. 
XXXV. THE WARNING.
 XXXVI. 
XXXVI.
 XXXVII. 
XXXVII. THE LABOURER'S NOON-DAY HYMN.
 XXXVIII. 
XXXVIII. ODE,
 XXXIX. 
XXXIX. TO MAY.
 XL. 
XL. LINES
 XLI. 
XLI. THE FOREGOING SUBJECT RESUMED.
 XLII. 
XLII.
 XLIII. 
XLIII. UPON SEEING A COLOURED DRAWING OF THE BIRD OF PARADISE IN AN ALBUM.
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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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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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