William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

THREE years she grew in sun and shower;

Then Nature said, “A lovelier flower

On earth was never sown;

This child I to myself will take;

She shall be mine, and I will make

A lady of my own.

“Myself will to my darling be

Both law and impulse; and with me

The girl, in rock and plain,

In earth and heaven, in glade and bower,

Shall feel an overseeing power

To kindle or restrain.

“The floating clouds their state shall lend

To her; for her the willow bend:

Nor shall she fail to see,

Even in the motions of the storm,

Grace that shall mould the maiden’s form

By silent sympathy.

“The stars of midnight shall be dear

To her; and she shall lean her ear

In many a secret place

Where rivulets dance their wayward round;

And beauty, born of murmuring sound,

Shall pass into her face.

“And vital feelings of delight

Shall rear her form to stately height,

Her virgin bosom swell:

Such thoughts to Lucy I will give,

While she and I together live

Here in this happy dell.”