The Prelude or Growth of a Poet's Mind: By William Wordsworth: Edited from the manuscripts with introduction, textual and critical notes by Ernest de Selincourt |
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 | The Prelude |  |
It might be told (but wherefore speak of things
Common to all?) that seeing, I essay'd
To give relief, began to deem myself
A moral agent, judging between good
And evil, not as for the mind's delight
But for her safety, one who was to act,
As sometimes, to the best of my weak means,
I did, by human sympathy impell'd;
And through dislike and most offensive pain
Was to the truth conducted; of this faith
Never forsaken, that by acting well
And understanding, I should learn to love
The end of life and every thing we know.
Common to all?) that seeing, I essay'd
To give relief, began to deem myself
A moral agent, judging between good
And evil, not as for the mind's delight
But for her safety, one who was to act,
As sometimes, to the best of my weak means,
I did, by human sympathy impell'd;
And through dislike and most offensive pain
Was to the truth conducted; of this faith
Never forsaken, that by acting well
And understanding, I should learn to love
The end of life and every thing we know.
| The Prelude | |