William Wordsworth (1770-1850). To the Daisy. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1909. The Book of Georgian Verse

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William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.

To the Daisy

By William Wordsworth (1770–1850)


BRIGHT flower, whose home is everywhere!
Bold in maternal Nature’s care,
And all the long year through, the heir
Of joy or sorrow.
Methinks that there abides in thee	5
Some concord with humanity,
Given to no other flower I see
The forest thorough!

Is it that man is soon deprest?
A thoughtless Thing! who, once unblest,	10
Does little on his memory rest,
Or on his reason,
But Thou would’st teach him how to find
A shelter under every wind,
A hope for times that are unkind	15
And every season.

Thou wander’st the wide world about,
Uncheck’d by pride or scrupulous doubt,
With friends to greet thee, or without,
Yet pleased, and willing;	20
Meek, yielding to the occasion’s call,
And all things suffering from all,
Thy function apostolical 1
In peace fulfilling.

Note 1. Thy function apostolical: Concerning this phrase Wordsworth says: “I have been censured for the last line but one—‘thy function apostolical’—as being a little less than profane. How could it be thought so? The word is adopted with reference to its derivation, implying something sent on a mission; and assuredly this little flower, especially when the subject of verse, may be regarded, in its humble degree as administering both to moral and spiritual purposes.” [back]

CONTENTS · GLOSSARY · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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