Lying at a Reverend friend's house one night, the Author left the following verses in the room where he slept :

O THOU dread power, who reign'st above!

;

I know Thou wilt me hear
When for this scene of peace and love,

I make my prayer sincere.
The hoary sire-the mortal stroke
Long, long, be pleased to spare ;

To bless his little filial flock,
And show what good men are.

She, who her lovely offspring eyes
With tender hopes and fears,
O, bless her with a mother's joys,
But spare a mother's tears.

Their hope, their stay, their darling youth,
In manhood's dawning blush;

Bless him, Thou God of love and truth

Up to a parent's wish.

The beauteous, seraph sister-band,

Ι

With earnest tears I pray,

Thou know'st the snares on every hand—

Guide Thou their steps alway.

When, soon or late, they reach that coast,
O'er life's rough ocean driven,

May they rejoice, no wanderer lost,
A family in Heaven!

William Wordsworth was born at Cockermouth in Cumberland, and was educated at Cambridge. From about the year 1800 he settled permanently in his native county, where he was appointed a Distributor of Stamps at £500 a year. His longest poem, " The Excursion," is perhaps least read of all his compositions, but his shorter poems are often of the very highest order.

A PERFECT WOMAN.

SHE was a phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely apparition,1 sent

To be a moment's ornament:

Her eyes as stars of twilight fair;
Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else, about her, drawn

From May-time's brightest, loveliest dawn;
A dancing shape, an image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and waylay.

I saw her upon nearer view,
A spirit, yet a woman too!

Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin liberty;

A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food;

For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.

And now I see, with eye serene,
The very pulse of the machine:
A being breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveller between life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a spirit still, and bright
With something of an angel-light.

.

13

THE DAFFODILS.

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

That floats, on high, o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils,

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretch'd in never-ending lino
Along the margin of a bay.

Ten thousand saw I at a glance

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee :-
A Poet could not but be gay

In such a jocund1 company!

I gazed and gazed-but little thought
What wealth to me the show had brought.

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3rd, 1802.

EARTH has not anything to show more fair;
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:

This city, now, doth, as a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

jocund, merry.

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

The river glideth at his own sweet will: Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; And all that mighty heart is lying still!

MILTON! thou should'st be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters; altar, sword, and pen,
Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient English dower

Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart:
Thou hadst a voice, whose sound was like the sea;
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free;
So didst thou travel on life's common way,
In cheerful godliness: and yet thy heart

The lowliest duties on herself did lay.