John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 479
| William Wordsworth. (1770–1850) (continued) |
| 5039 |
| The monumental pomp of age Was with this goodly personage; A stature undepressed in size, Unbent, which rather seemed to rise In open victory o’er the weight Of seventy years, to loftier height. |
| The White Doe of Rylstone. Canto iii. |
| 5040 |
| “What is good for a bootless bene?” With these dark words begins my tale; And their meaning is, Whence can comfort spring When prayer is of no avail? |
| Force of Prayer. |
| 5041 |
| A few strong instincts, and a few plain rules. |
| Alas! what boots the long laborious Quest? |
| 5042 |
| Of blessed consolations in distress. |
| Preface to the Excursion. (Edition, 1814.) |
| 5043 |
| The vision and the faculty divine; Yet wanting the accomplishment of verse. |
| The Excursion.Book i. |
| 5044 |
| The imperfect offices of prayer and praise. |
| The Excursion.Book i. |
| 5045 |
| That mighty orb of song, The divine Milton. |
| The Excursion.Book i. |
| 5046 |
| The good die first, 1 And they whose hearts are dry as summer dust Burn to the socket. |
| The Excursion.Book i. |
| 5047 |
| This dull product of a scoffer’s pen. |
| The Excursion.Book ii. |
| 5048 |
| With battlements that on their restless fronts Bore stars. |
| The Excursion.Book ii. |
| 5049 |
| Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop Than when we soar. |
| The Excursion.Book iii. |
| Note 1. Heaven gives its favourites—early death.—Lord Byron: Childe Harold, canto iv. stanza 102. Also Don Juan, canto iv. stanza 12. Quem Di diligunt Adolescens moritur (He whom the gods favor dies in youth). Plautus: Bacchides, act iv. sc. 7. [back] |