| James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902. | | | | April 23 | | Wordsworth | | By Craven Langstroth Betts (1853–1941) |
| | (Died April 23, 1850)
THE PRESENCES of woods informed his soul; | |
| His Muse was taught of winds and murmuring streams; | |
| Across his vision broke Love’s rarest gleams, | |
| And English faith held o’er him proud control. | |
| He was Truth’s eremite with beechen bowl; | 5 |
| The wayside life and legend shaped his themes, | |
| Borne softly through his mountain realm of dreams, | |
| But round those heights rang Freedom’s trumpet-roll. | |
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| Prophet and priest and bard—the humble throng | |
| He loved and voiced, from the great Mother drew | 10 |
| His litanies and choruses; the blue | |
| Of Heaven and green of Earth illumed his song. | |
| The Joshua, he, of Israel’s chosen few, | |
| And of his peers the Godfrey chaste and strong. | | | | |
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