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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.
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PART II. TO THE CLOSE OF THE TROUBLES IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III. CISTERTIAN MONASTERY.
 IV. 
IV.
 V. 
V. MONKS AND SCHOOLMEN.
 VI. 
VI. OTHER BENEFITS.
 VII. 
VII. OTHER BENEFITS: CONTINUED.
 VIII. 
VIII. CRUSADERS.
 IX. 
IX.
 X. 
X.
 XI. 
XI. TRANSUBSTANTIATION.
 XII. 
XII. THE VAUDOIS.
 XIII. 
XIII.
 XIV. 
XIV. WALDENSES.
 XV. 
XV. ARCHBISHOP CHICHELY TO HENRY V.
 XVI. 
XVI. WARS OF YORK AND LANCASTER.
 XVII. 
XVII. WICLIFFE.
 XVIII. 
XVIII. CORRUPTIONS OF THE HIGHER CLERGY.
 XIX. 
XIX. ABUSE OF MONASTIC POWER.
 XX. 
XX. MONASTIC VOLUPTUOUSNESS.
 XXI. 
XXI. DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES.
 XXII. 
XXII. THE SAME SUBJECT. [DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES.]
 XXIII. 
XXIII. [DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES]: CONTINUED.
 XXIV. 
XXIV. SAINTS.
 XXV. 
XXV. THE VIRGIN.
 XXVI. 
XXVI. APOLOGY.
 XXVII. 
XXVII. IMAGINATIVE REGRETS.
 XXVIII. 
XXVIII. REFLECTIONS.
 XXIX. 
XXIX. TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.
 XXX. 
XXX. THE POINT AT ISSUE.
 XXXI. 
XXXI. EDWARD VI.
 XXXII. 
XXXII. EDWARD SIGNING THE WARRANT FOR THE EXECUTION OF JOAN OF KENT.
 XXXIII. 
XXXIII. REVIVAL OF POPERY.
 XXXIV. 
XXXIV. LATIMER AND RIDLEY.
 XXXV. 
XXXV. CRANMER.
 XXXVI. 
XXXVI. GENERAL VIEW OF THE TROUBLES OF THE REFORMATION.
 XXXVII. 
XXXVII. ENGLISH REFORMERS IN EXILE.
 XXXVIII. 
XXXVIII. ELIZABETH.
 XXXIX. 
XXXIX. EMINENT REFORMERS.
 XL. 
XL. THE SAME. [EMINENT REFORMERS.]
 XLI. 
XLI. DISTRACTIONS.
 XLII. 
XLII. GUNPOWDER PLOT.
 XLIII. 
XLIII. THE JUNG-FRAU AND THE FALL OF THE RHINE NEAR SCHAFFHAUSEN.
 XLIV. 
XLIV. TROUBLES OF CHARLES THE FIRST.
 XLV. 
XLV. LAUD .
 XLVI. 
XLVI. AFFLICTIONS OF ENGLAND.
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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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[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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