And, with the guilt, the shame is fled;
And, with the guilt and shame, the Woe hath vanish'd,
Shaking the dust and ashes from her head! 130
--No more--these lingerings of distress
Sully the limpid stream of thankfulness.
What robe can Gratitude employ
So seemly as the radiant vest of Joy?
What steps so suitable as those that move 135
In prompt obedience to spontaneous measures
Of glory, and felicity, and love,
Surrendering the whole heart to sacred pleasures?
VIII
O Britain! dearer far than life is dear,[AW]
If one there be 140
Of all thy progeny[95]
Who can forget thy prowess, never more
Be that[96] ungrateful Son allowed to hear
Thy green leaves rustle or thy torrents roar.
As springs the lion from his den, 145
As from a forest-brake
Upstarts a glistering snake,
The bold Arch-despot re-appeared;[97][AX]--again
Wide Europe heaves, impatient to be cast,
With all her armèd Powers, 150
On that offensive soil, like waves upon a thousand shores.[98]
The trumpet blew a universal blast![AY]
But Thou art foremost in the field:[AZ]--there stand:
Receive the triumph destined to thy hand!
All States have glorified themselves;--their claims 155
Are weighed by Providence, in balance even;
And now, in preference to the mightiest names,
To Thee the exterminating sword[99] is given.
Dread mark of approbation, justly gained!
Exalted office, worthily sustained! 160
IX
Preserve, O Lord! within our hearts
The memory of thy favour,
That else insensibly departs,
And loses its sweet savour!
Lodge it within us!--as the power of light 165
Lives inexhaustibly in precious gems,
Fixed on the front of Eastern diadems,
So shine our thankfulness for ever bright!
What offering, what transcendent monument
Shall our sincerity to Thee present? 170
--Not work of hands; but trophies that may reach
To highest Heaven--the labour of the Soul;
That builds, as thy unerring precepts teach,
Upon the internal conquests made by each,[100]
Her hope of lasting glory for the whole. 175
Yet will not heaven disown nor earth gainsay[101]
The outward service of this day;
Whether the worshippers entreat
Forgiveness from God's mercy-seat;
Or thanks and praises to His throne ascend 180
That He has[102] brought our warfare to an end,
And that we need no second[103] victory!--[BA]
Ha! what a ghastly sight for man to see;
And to the heavenly saints in peace who dwell,
For a brief moment, terrible; 185
But, to thy sovereign penetration, fair,
Before whom all things are, that were,
All judgments that have been, or e'er shall be;
Links in the chain of thy tranquillity!
Along the bosom of this favoured Nation, 190
Breathe Thou, this day, a vital undulation!
Let all who do this land inherit
Be conscious of thy moving spirit!
Oh, 'tis a goodly Ordinance,--the sight,
Though sprung from bleeding war, is one of pure delight; 195
Bless Thou the hour, or ere the hour arrive,
When a whole people shall kneel down in prayer,
And, at one moment, in one rapture,[104] strive
With lip and heart to tell their gratitude
For thy protecting care, 200
Their solemn joy--praising the Eternal Lord
For tyranny subdued,
And for the sway of equity renewed,
For liberty confirmed, and peace restored! 204
X
But hark--the summons!--down the placid lake
Floats the soft cadence of the church-tower bells;[BB]
Bright shines the Sun, as if his beams would wake[105]
The tender insects sleeping in their cells;
Bright shines the Sun--and not a breeze to shake
The drops that tip[106] the melting icicles. 210
_O, enter now his temple gate!_
Inviting words--perchance already flung
(As the crowd press devoutly down the aisle
Of some old Minster's venerable pile)
From voices into zealous passion stung, 215
While the tubed engine feels the inspiring blast,
And has begun--its clouds of sound to cast
Forth towards[107] empyreal Heaven,
As if the fretted roof were riven.
_Us_, humbler ceremonies now await; 220
But in the bosom, with devout respect
The banner of our joy we will erect,
And strength of love our souls shall elevate:
For to a few collected in his name,
Their heavenly Father will incline an ear 225
Gracious to service hallowed by its aim;--[108]
Awake! the majesty of God revere!
Go--and with foreheads meekly bowed
Present your prayers--go--and rejoice aloud--
The Holy One will hear! 230
And what, 'mid silence deep, with faith sincere,
Ye, in your low and undisturbed estate,
Shall simply feel and purely meditate--
Of warnings--from the unprecedented might,
Which, in our time, the impious have disclosed; 235
And of more arduous duties thence imposed
Upon the future advocates of right;
Of mysteries revealed,
And judgments unrepealed,
Of earthly revolution, 240
And final retribution,--
To his omniscience will appear
An offering not unworthy to find place,
On this high DAY OF THANKS, before the Throne of Grace!
Replying to some criticism on this _Ode_ by Southey, Wordsworth wrote to
his friend as follows:--"I am much of your mind in respect to my Ode.
Had it been a hymn, uttering the sentiments of a _multitude_, a _stanza_
would have been indispensable. But though I have called it a
'Thanksgiving Ode,' strictly speaking it is not so, but a poem,
composed, or supposed to be composed, on the morning of the
thanksgiving, uttering the sentiments of an _individual_ upon that
occasion. It is a _dramatised ejaculation_; and this, if anything can,
must excuse the irregular frame of the metre. In respect to a _stanza_
for a grand subject designed to be treated comprehensively, there are
great objections. If the stanza be short, it will scarcely allow of
fervour and importunity, unless so short, as that the sense is run
perpetually from one stanza to another, as in Horace's Alcaics; and if
it be long, it will be as apt to generate diffuseness as to check it. Of
this we have innumerable instances in Spenser and the Italian poets. The
sense required cannot be included in one given stanza, so that another
whole stanza is added, not infrequently, for the sake of matter which
would naturally include itself in a very few lines.
"If Gray's plan be adopted, there is not time to become acquainted with
the arrangement, and to recognise with pleasure the recurrence of the
movement.
"Be so good as let me know where you found most difficulty in following
me. The passage which I most suspect of being misunderstood is
And thus is missed the sole true glory;
and the passage where I doubt most about the reasonableness of expecting
that the reader should follow me in the luxuriance of the imagery and
the language, is the one that describes, under so many metaphors, the
spreading of the news of the Waterloo victory over the globe."
The last reference in this letter is to the lines in that part of the
_Ode_, which follows--
Joyful annunciation!--it went forth--
It pierced the caverns of the sluggish North, etc."
ED.
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 80: 1837.
Hail, universal Source of pure delight! 1816.
]
[Footnote 81: 1837.
Whether thy orient ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 82: 1837.
... that timid pace,
Framed in subjection to the chains 1816.
... that timid pace
Submitted to the chains 1827.
]
[Footnote 83: 1850.
... yon ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 84: 1837.
... splendour, ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 85: 1837.
... but ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 86: 1837.
--Who to the murmurs of an earthly string 1816.
]
[Footnote 87: 1837.
... in the night 1816.
]
[Footnote 88: "Missed" italicised in 1837 and subsequent editions.]
[Footnote 89: "They" italicised in the editions from 1816 to 1832.]
[Footnote 90: 1837.
To Him ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 91: 1816.
... power eternal ... C.
]
[Footnote 92: 1837.
Who sees, and feels, ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 93: 1837.
While the old forest of civility
Is doomed to perish, to the last fair tree. 1816.
While the whole forest of civility
Is doomed to perish, to the last fair tree! 1827.
Perish without reprieve for herb, or flower, or tree. C.
]
[Footnote 94: 1827.
And the ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 95: 1816.
From shore to shore C.
]
[Footnote 96: 1845.
Land of our fathers! precious unto me
Since the first joys of thinking infancy;
When of thy gallant chivalry I read,
And hugged the volume on my sleepless bed!
O England!--dearer far than life is dear,
If I forget thy prowess, never more
Be thy ... 1816.
Land of our fathers! loved by me
Since the first joys of thinking infancy;
Loved with a passion since I caught thy praise
A Listener, at or on some patient knee,
With an ear fastened to rude ballad lays--
Or of thy gallant chivalry I read,
And hugged the volume on a sleepless bed!
O England!--dearer far, etc. 1837.
]
[Footnote 97: 1816
... reappears ... C.
]
[Footnote 98: 1845.
... torrents roar!
But how can _He_ be faithless to the past,
Whose soul, intolerant of base decline,
Saw in thy virtue a celestial sign,
That bade him hope, and to his hope cleave fast!
The nations strove with puissance;--at length
Wide Europe heaved, impatient to be cast,
With _all_ her living strength,
With _all_ her armed powers,
Upon the offensive shores. 1816.
]
[Footnote 99: The words "exterminating sword" were italicised in 1816
only. In Lord Coleridge's copy the MS. reading "vindicating sword" is
given.]
[Footnote 100: 1845.
Upon the inward victories of each, 1816.
]
[Footnote 101: 1816.
Yet no one shall gainsay C.
]
[Footnote 102: 1820.
That Thou hast ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 103: 1820.
... further ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 104: 1827.
... spirit, ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 105: 1837.
... might wake 1816.
]
[Footnote 106: 1827.
... point ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 107: 1837.
Towards the ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 108: 1827.
... incline his ear,
Hallowing himself the service which they frame;-- 1816.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote AO: "Without a cultivation of military virtues."--W. W. 1845.]
[Footnote AP: In all editions subsequent to that of 1816, this paragraph
was omitted.--ED.]
[Footnote AQ: This "Advertisement" was prefixed to the poem, in all
editions from 1816 to 1843. In 1845, when part of the _Ode_, beginning
Imagination--ne'er before content
was detached from the rest, and turned into a separate _Ode_, with the
date 1815 appended, the "Advertisement" was thrown into a "note" at the
end of the volume, and it retained this place in subsequent editions. In
Lord Coleridge's copy of the edition of 1836-37--before the stanzas
which were afterwards separated to form the second _Ode_--"Waterloo" is
written.--ED.]
[Footnote AR: The heights of Wansfell and Loughrigg.--ED.]
[Footnote AS: The whole period of the Peninsular and Continental wars
with Napoleon.--ED.]
[Footnote AT: Wellington.--ED.]
[Footnote AU: The outcome of Napoleonic ambition.--ED.]
[Footnote AV: "A discipline the rule whereof is passion" (LORD
BROOKE).--W. W. 1816.]
[Footnote AW: Compare the lines beginning
O dearer far than light and life are dear,
addressed to Mrs. Wordsworth in 1824.--ED.]
[Footnote AX: Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815.--ED.]
[Footnote AY: The Allied Sovereigns declared against Napoleon, March
1815.--ED.]
[Footnote AZ: Wellington took the command in April 1815.--ED.]
[Footnote BA: Napoleon's power being finally broken at Waterloo.--ED.]
[Footnote BB: From Grasmere Church, over Rydal Mere.--ED.]
ODE
Composed 1816.--Published 1816
The first and the fourth stanzas of this _Ode_ formed stanzas ix. and
xii. of the _Thanksgiving Ode_ from 1816 to 1842. In 1845 it was printed
as number XLV. of the "Poems of the Imagination."--ED.
I
Imagination--ne'er before content,
But aye ascending, restless in her pride
From all that martial feats could yield
To her desires, or to her hopes present--
Stooped to the Victory, on that Belgic field 5
Achieved, this closing deed magnificent,[109]
And with the embrace was satisfied.[110]
--Fly, ministers of Fame,
With every help that ye from earth and heaven may claim![111]
Bear through the world these tidings of delight! 10
--Hours, Days, and Months, have borne them in the sight
Of mortals, hurrying like a sudden shower[112]
That land-ward stretches from the sea,
The morning's splendours to devour;
But this swift travel scorns the company 15
Of irksome change, or threats from saddening power.[113]
_--The shock is given--the Adversaries bleed--
Lo, Justice triumphs! Earth is freed!_
Joyful annunciation!--it went forth--[114]
It pierced the caverns of the sluggish North--[BC] 20
It found no barrier on the ridge
Of Andes--frozen gulphs became its bridge--
The vast Pacific gladdens with the freight--
Upon the Lakes of Asia 'tis bestowed--
The Arabian desert shapes a willing road 25
Across her burning breast,
For this refreshing incense from the West!--[BD]
--Where snakes and lions breed,
Where towns and cities thick as stars appear,
Wherever fruits are gathered, and where'er 30
The upturned soil receives the hopeful seed--
While the Sun rules, and cross the shades of night--
The unwearied arrow hath pursued its flight!
The eyes of good men thankfully give heed,
And in its sparkling progress read 35
Of virtue crowned with glory's deathless meed:[115]
Tyrants exult to hear of kingdoms won,
And slaves are pleased to learn that mighty feats are done;
Even the proud Realm, from whose distracted borders
This messenger of good was launched in air, 40
France, humbled[116] France, amid her wild disorders,
Feels, and hereafter shall the truth declare,
That she too lacks not reason to rejoice,
And utter England's name with sadly-plausive voice.
II
O genuine glory, pure renown! 45
And well might it beseem that mighty Town[BE]
Into whose bosom earth's best treasures flow,[117]
To whom all persecuted men retreat;
If a new Temple lift her[118] votive brow
High on[119] the shore of silver Thames--to greet 50
The peaceful guest advancing from afar.
Bright be the Fabric,[120] as a star
Fresh risen, and beautiful within!--there meet
Dependence infinite, proportion just;
A Pile that Grace approves, and Time can trust 55
With his most sacred wealth, heroic dust.[121]
III
But if the valiant of this land
In reverential modesty demand,
That all observance, due to them, be paid
Where their serene progenitors are laid; 60
Kings, warriors, high-souled poets, saint-like sages,
England's illustrious sons of long, long ages;
Be it not unordained that solemn rites,
Within the circuit of those Gothic walls,[BF]
Shall be performed at pregnant intervals; 65
Commemoration holy that unites
The living generations with the dead;
By the deep soul-moving sense
Of religious eloquence,--
By visual pomp, and by the tie 70
Of sweet and threatening harmony;
Soft notes, awful as the omen
Of destructive tempests coming,
And escaping from that sadness
Into elevated gladness; 75
While the white-rob'd choir attendant,
Under mouldering banners pendant,
Provoke all potent symphonies to raise
Songs of victory and praise,
For them who bravely stood unhurt, or bled 80
With medicable wounds, or found their graves
Upon the battle field, or under ocean's waves;
Or were conducted home in single state,
And long procession--there to lie,
Where their sons' sons, and all posterity, 85
Unheard by them, their deeds shall celebrate!
IV
Nor will the God of peace and love
Such martial service disapprove.
He guides the Pestilence--the cloud
Of locusts travels on his breath; 90
The region that in hope was ploughed
His drought consumes, his mildew taints with death;
He springs the hushed Volcano's mine,
He puts the Earthquake on her still design,[BG]
Darkens the sun, hath bade the forest sink, 95
And, drinking towns and cities, still can drink
Cities and towns--'tis Thou--the work is Thine!--
The fierce Tornado sleeps within thy courts--
He hears the word--he flies--
And navies perish in their ports; 100
For Thou art angry with thine enemies!
For these, and mourning for our errors,[122]
And sins, that point their terrors,
We bow our heads before Thee, and we laud
And magnify thy name, Almighty God! 105
But Man is thy most awful instrument,
In working out a pure intent;[123]
Thou cloth'st the wicked in their dazzling mail,
And for thy righteous purpose[124] they prevail;
Thine arm from peril guards the coasts 110
Of them who in thy laws delight:
Thy presence turns the scale of doubtful fight,
Tremendous God of battles, Lord of Hosts![BH]
V
Forbear:--to Thee--
Father and Judge of all, with fervent tongue 115
But in a gentler strain[125]
Of contemplation, by no sense of wrong
(Too quick and keen) incited to disdain
Of pity pleading from the heart in vain--[126]
TO THEE--TO THEE 120
Just God of christianised Humanity
Shall praises be poured forth, and thanks ascend,[127]
That thou hast brought our warfare to an end,
And that we need no second[128] victory!
Blest, above measure blest, 125
If on thy love our Land her hopes shall rest,
And all the Nations labour to fulfil
Thy law, and live henceforth in peace, in pure good will.[129]
In an early MS. copy of this _Ode_, it concludes thus, after the line
"And that we need no further victory!"
Ha! what a ghastly sight for man to see;
And to the heavenly saints in peace who dwell,
For a brief moment, terrible;
But to thy sovereign penetration fair,
Before whom all things are that were,
All judgments that have been, or e'er shall be,
Links in the chain of thy tranquillity!
Along the bosom of this favoured nation,
Breathe thou, this day, a vital undulation!
Let all who do this land inherit
Be conscious of Thy moving spirit!
Oh, 'tis a goodly Ordinance,--the sight,
Though sprung from bleeding war, is one of pure delight;
Bless thou the hour, or ere the hour arrive,
When a whole people shall kneel down in prayer,
And, at one moment, in one spirit, strive
With lip and heart to tell their gratitude
For thy protecting care,
Their solemn joy--praising the Eternal Lord
For tyranny subdued,
And for the sway of equity renewed,
For liberty confirmed, and peace restored!
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 109: 1845.
From all that man's performance could present,
Stoops to that closing deed magnificent, 1816.
]
[Footnote 110: 1845.
... is satisfied. 1816.
]
[Footnote 111: 1845.
Whate'er your means, whatever help ye claim, 1816.
]
[Footnote 112: 1837.
... travelling faster than the shower, 1816.
]
[Footnote 113: 1845.
... to devour;
But this appearance scattered extacy,--
And heart-sick Europe blessed the healing power. 1816.
... to devour,
In summer's loveliest hour;
But this assurance travelled fraught with glee,
And heart-sick Europe blessed its healing power. 1837.
... to devour,
But this assurance travelled fraught with glee,
And heart-sick Europe blessed its healing power. 1841.
]
[Footnote 114: 1837.
Such glad assurance suddenly went forth-- 1816.
]
[Footnote 115: 1837.
How virtue triumphs, from her bondage freed! 1816.
]
[Footnote 116: 1845.
... conquered ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 117: 1845.
--Yet might it well become that City now,
Into whose breast the tides of grandeur flow, 1816.
]
[Footnote 118: 1820.
... its ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 119: 1837.
Upon ... 1819.
]
[Footnote 120: 1850.
Bright be the distant fabric, ... 1816.
Bright be the peaceful Fabric, ... 1845.
]
[Footnote 121: 1827.
... and time can trust. 1816.
The next line was omitted in 1816.
]
[Footnote 122: 1845.
... and for our errors, 1816.
]
[Footnote 123: 1845.
But thy most dreaded instrument,
In working out a pure intent,
Is Man--arrayed for mutual slaughter,--
Yea, Carnage is thy daughter! 1816.
But thy most awful instrument 1837.
]
[Footnote 124: 1837.
And by thy just permission ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 125: 1845.
... to Thee--
With fervent thoughts, but in a gentler strain 1837.
]
[Footnote 126: The above six lines were added in 1837.]
[Footnote 127: 1845.
... to THEE--
On this appointed Day shall thanks ascend, 1816.
... Humanity,
On this appointed day shall thanks ascend, 1837.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote BC: Compare this description of the news of Waterloo spreading
over the nations with the effect of the lady's laugh in _To Joanna_. See
"Poems on the Naming of Places" (vol. ii. p. 159).--ED.]
[Footnote BD: See note A on preceding page.--ED.]
[Footnote BE: London.--ED.]
[Footnote BF: In Westminster Abbey.--ED.]
[Footnote BG: Compare the Psalter, civ. 32.--ED.]
[Footnote BH: Compare the Psalter, _passim_, _e.g._ xlvi., lxvi., cvi.,
and Shakespeare, _Henry V._ act IV. scene i.: "If these men have
defeated the law and outrun native punishment, though they can outstrip
men, they have no wings to fly from God: war is his beadle, war is his
vengeance."--ED.]
[Footnote 128: 1845.
... further ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 129: The last four lines were added in 1845, but another
version of the last two lines was written by Wordsworth in MS. on his
edition of 1837--
And all the nations labouring to fulfil
Thy law shall live henceforth in peace and brotherly goodwill.
]
INVOCATION TO THE EARTH[BI]
FEBRUARY, 1816
Composed 1816.--Published 1816
[Composed immediately after the _Thanksgiving Ode_, to which it may be
considered as a second part.--I. F.]
One of the "Epitaphs and Elegiac Pieces."--ED.
I
"Rest, rest, perturbèd Earth![BJ]
O rest, thou doleful Mother of Mankind!"
A Spirit sang in tones more plaintive than the wind:
"From regions where no evil thing has birth
I come--thy stains to wash away, 5
Thy cherished fetters to unbind,
And open[130] thy sad eyes upon a milder day.
The Heavens are thronged with martyrs that have risen
From out thy noisome prison;
The penal caverns groan 10
With tens of thousands rent from off the tree
Of hopeful life,[BK]--by battle's whirlwind blown
Into the deserts of Eternity.
Unpitied havoc! Victims unlamented!
But not on high, where madness is resented, 15
And murder causes some sad tears to flow,
Though, from the widely-sweeping blow,
The choirs of Angels spread, triumphantly augmented.
II
"False Parent of Mankind!
Obdurate, proud, and blind, 20
I sprinkle thee with soft celestial dews,
Thy lost, maternal heart to re-infuse!
Scattering this far-fetched moisture from my wings,
Upon the act a blessing I implore,
Of which the rivers in their secret springs, 25
The rivers stained so oft with human gore,
Are conscious;--may the like return no more!
May Discord--for a Seraph's care
Shall be attended with a bolder prayer--
May she, who once disturbed the seats of bliss 30
These mortal spheres above,
Be chained for ever to the black abyss!
And thou, O rescued Earth, by peace and love,
And merciful desires, thy sanctity approve!"
The Spirit ended his mysterious rite, 35
And the pure vision closed in darkness infinite."
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 130: 1837.
To open ... 1816.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote BI: The title which this _Invocation to the Earth_ bore when
first published in the _Thanksgiving Ode, with other short pieces
chiefly referring to recent public events_, in 1816, was "_Elegiac
Verses, February 1816_."--ED.]
[Footnote BJ: Compare _Hamlet_, act I. scene V., l. 183--
Rest, rest, perturbed spirit!
ED.
]
[Footnote BK: "The loss of human life, on the French side alone, in the
wars consequent on the Revolution, was estimated (in 1815) to have been
4,556,000." (Blair's _Chronological Tables_, p. 724.)--ED.]
ODE[BL]
Composed January 1816.--Published 1816
Carmina possumus
Donare, et pretium dicere muneri.
Non incisa notis marmora publicis,
Per quæ spiritus et vita redit bonis
Post mortem ducibus
clarius indicant
Laudes, quam----Pierides; neque,
Si chartæ sileant quod bene feceris,
Mercedem tuleris. HOR. _Car._ 8, lib. 4.[BM]
This was one of the "Poems of the Imagination," in 1820. In 1827 it was
placed among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty."--ED.
I