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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.
 VIII. 
VIII. COMPOSED AT THE SAME TIME AND ON THE SAME OCCASION.
 IX. 
IX. HOFFER.
 X. 
X.
 XI. 
XI. FEELINGS OF THE TYROLESE.
 XII. 
XII.
 XIII. 
XIII.
 XIV. 
XIV.
 XV. 
XV. ON THE FINAL SUBMISSION OF THE TYROLESE.
 XVI. 
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.
 XXXV. 
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.
 XLIV. 
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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XXIX. MEMORY.

A pen—to register; a key—
That winds through secret wards;
Are well assigned to Memory
By allegoric Bards.
As aptly, also, might be given
A Pencil to her hand;
That, softening objects, sometimes even
Outstrips the heart's demand;
That smoothes foregone distress, the lines
Of lingering care subdues,
Long-vanished happiness refines,
And clothes in brighter hues;
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Yet, like a tool of Fancy, works
Those Spectres to dilate
That startle Conscience, as she lurks
Within her lonely seat.
O! that our lives, which flee so fast,
In purity were such,
That not an image of the past
Should fear that pencil's touch!
Retirement then might hourly look
Upon a soothing scene,
Age steal to his allotted nook
Contented and serene;
With heart as calm as lakes that sleep,
In frosty moonlight glistening;
Or mountain rivers, where they creep
Along a channel smooth and deep,
To their own far-off murmurs listening.
1823.
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