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Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867.

VIII. Personal Talk and Books

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

WINGS have we, and as far as we can go

We may find pleasure: wilderness and wood,

Blank ocean and mere sky, support that mood

Which with the lofty sanctifies the low:

Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know,

Are a substantial world, both pure and good:

Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,

Our pastime and our happiness will grow.

There find I personal themes, a plenteous store,

Matter wherein right voluble am I,

To which I listen with a ready ear.

Two shall be named, pre-eminently dear:—

The gentle Lady married to the Moor,

And heavenly Una with her milk-white Lamb.