| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
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| William Wordsworth. 1770–1850 |
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523. England, 1802
i |
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| O FRIEND! I know not which way I must look | |
| For comfort, being, as I am, opprest, | |
| To think that now our life is only drest | |
| For show; mean handy-work of craftsman, cook, | |
| Or groom!—We must run glittering like a brook | 5 |
| In the open sunshine, or we are unblest: | |
| The wealthiest man among us is the best: | |
| No grandeur now in nature or in book | |
| Delights us. Rapine, avarice, expense, | |
| This is idolatry; and these we adore: | 10 |
| Plain living and high thinking are no more: | |
| The homely beauty of the good old cause | |
| Is gone; our peace, our fearful innocence, | |
| And pure religion breathing household laws. | |
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