dots-menu
×

Home  »  The Oxford Book of English Verse  »  523. England, 1802 i

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

William Wordsworth. 1770–1850

523. England, 1802 i

O FRIEND! I know not which way I must look 
  For comfort, being, as I am, opprest, 
  To think that now our life is only drest 
For show; mean handy-work of craftsman, cook, 
Or groom!—We must run glittering like a brook         5
  In the open sunshine, or we are unblest: 
  The wealthiest man among us is the best: 
No grandeur now in nature or in book 
Delights us. Rapine, avarice, expense, 
  This is idolatry; and these we adore:  10
  Plain living and high thinking are no more: 
  The homely beauty of the good old cause 
Is gone; our peace, our fearful innocence, 
  And pure religion breathing household laws.