In 1798, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge collaborated on a collection of poems called Lyrical Ballads. What came out of this collection were some of the greatest poems of the English language, including The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge and Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey by Wordsworth.

Included in this collection was the poem Lines Written in Early Spring by William Wordsworth. None of the romantic poets wrote about nature better than Wordsworth did.  It is a very lyrical ballad indeed and very fitting for the weekend before Earth Day.

 Lines Written in Early Spring

by

William Wordsworth

 I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it griev’d my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose-tufts, in that sweet bower,
The periwinkle trail’d its wreathes;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopp’d and play’d:
Their thoughts I cannot measure,
But the least motion which they made,
It seem’d a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If I these thoughts may not prevent,
If such be of my creed the plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

Trackback URI | Comments RSS