| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909. | | | | The Sparrow’s Nest | | By William Wordsworth (1770–1850) |
| | | BEHOLD, within the leafy shade, | |
| Those bright blue eggs together laid | |
| On me the chance-discovered sight | |
| Gleamed like a vision of delight. | |
| I started—seeming to espy | 5 |
| The home and sheltered bed, | |
| The Sparrow’s dwelling, which, hard by | |
| My father’s house, in wet or dry | |
| My Sister Emmeline and I | |
| Together visited. | 10 |
| She looked at it and seemed to fear it; | |
| Dreading, tho’ wishing to be near it: | |
| Such heart was in her, being then | |
| A little Prattler among men. | |
| The Blessing of my later years | 15 |
| Was with me when a Boy: | |
| She gave me eyes, she gave me ears; | |
| And humble cares, and delicate fears; | |
| A heart, the fountain of sweet tears; | |
| And love, and thought, and joy. | 20 | | | |
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