Delphi Poetry Anthology: The World's Greatest Poems (Delphi Poets Series Book 50) (168 page)

And to that hollow dell from time to time
Did he repair, to build the Fold of which
His flock had need. ’Tis not forgotten yet
The pity which was then in every heart
  
465
For the old Man — and ’tis believed by all
That many and many a day he thither went,
And never lifted up a single stone.
 
There, by the Sheepfold, sometimes was he seen
Sitting alone, or with his faithful Dog,
  
470
Then old, beside him, lying at his feet.
The length of full seven years, from time to time,
He at the building of this Sheepfold wrought,
And left the work unfinished when he died.
Three years, or little more, did Isabel
  
475
Survive her Husband: at her death the estate
Was sold, and went into a stranger’s hand.
The Cottage which was named THE EVENING STAR
Is gone — the ploughshare has been through the ground
On which it stood; great changes have been wrought
  
480
In all the neighbourhood: — yet the oak is left
That grew beside their door; and the remains
Of the unfinished Sheepfold may be seen
Beside the boisterous brook of Greenhead Ghyll.

List of Poems in Alphabetical Order

List of Poets in Alphabetical Order

Yarrow Unvisited

1803

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

FROM Stirling Castle we had seen
The mazy Forth unravell’d,
Had trod the banks of Clyde and Tay,
And with the Tweed had travell’d;
And when we came to Clovenford,
  
5
Then said my ‘winsome Marrow,’
‘Whate’er betide, we’ll turn aside,
And see the Braes of Yarrow.’

‘Let Yarrow folk, frae Selkirk town,
Who have been buying, selling,
  
10
Go back to Yarrow, ’tis their own,
Each maiden to her dwelling!
On Yarrow’s banks let herons feed,
Hares couch, and rabbits burrow;
But we will downward with the Tweed,
  
15
Nor turn aside to Yarrow.

‘There’s Galla Water, Leader Haughs,
Both lying right before us;
And Dryburgh, where with chiming Tweed
The lintwhites sing in chorus;
  
20
There’s pleasant Teviotdale, a land
Made blythe with plough and harrow:
Why throw away a needful day
To go in search of Yarrow?

‘What’s Yarrow but a river bare
  
25
That glides the dark hills under?
There are a thousand such elsewhere
As worthy of your wonder.’
 
— Strange words they seem’d of slight and scorn;
My true-love sigh’d for sorrow,
  
30
And look’d me in the face, to think
I thus could speak of Yarrow!

‘O green,’ said I, ‘are Yarrow’s holms.
And sweet is Yarrow flowing!
Fair hangs the apple frae the rock,
  
35
But we will leave it growing.
O’er hilly path and open strath
We’ll wander Scotland thorough;
But, though so near, we will not turn
Into the dale of Yarrow.
  
40

‘Let beeves and home-bred kine partake
The sweets of Burn-mill meadow;
The swan on still Saint Mary’s Lake
Float double, swan and shadow!
We will not see them; will not go
  
45
To-day, nor yet to-morrow;
Enough if in our hearts we know
There’s such a place as Yarrow.

‘Be Yarrow stream unseen, unknown;
It must, or we shall rue it:
  
50
We have a vision of our own,
Ah! why should we undo it?
The treasured dreams of times long past,
We’ll keep them, winsome Marrow!
For when we’re there, although ’tis fair,
  
55
‘Twill be another Yarrow!

‘If care with freezing years should come
And wandering seem but folly, —
Should we be loth to stir from home,
And yet be melancholy;
  
60
Should life be dull, and spirits low,
‘Twill soothe us in our sorrow
That earth has something yet to show,
The bonny holms of Yarrow!’

List of Poems in Alphabetical Order

List of Poets in Alphabetical Order

Yarrow Visited

[September, 1814]

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

AND is this — Yarrow? — This the stream
Of which my fancy cherish’d
So faithfully, a waking dream,
An image that hath perish’d?
O that some minstrel’s harp were near
  
5
To utter notes of gladness
And chase this silence from the air,
That fills my heart with sadness.

Yet why? — a silvery current flows
With uncontroll’d meanderings;
  
10
Nor have these eyes by greener hills
Been soothed, in all my wanderings.
And, through her depths, Saint Mary’s Lake
Is visibly delighted;
For not a feature of those hills
  
15
Is in the mirror slighted.

A blue sky bends o’er Yarrow Vale,
Save where that pearly whiteness
Is round the rising sun diffused,
A tender hazy brightness;
  
20
Mild dawn of promise! that excludes
All profitless dejection;
Though not unwilling here to admit
A pensive recollection.

Where was it that the famous Flower
  
25
Of Yarrow Vale lay bleeding?
His bed perchance was yon smooth mound
On which the herd is feeding:
And haply from this crystal pool
Now peaceful as the morning,
  
30
The water-Wraith ascended thrice,
And gave his doleful warning.

Delicious is the Lay that sings
The haunts of happy lovers,
The path that leads them to the grove,
  
35
The leafy grove that covers:
And pity sanctifies the verse
That paints, by strength of sorrow,
The unconquerable strength of love;
Bear witness, rueful Yarrow!
  
40

But thou that didst appear so fair
To fond imagination
Dost rival in the light of day
Her delicate creation:
Meek loveliness is round thee spread,
  
45
A softness still and holy:
The grace of forest charms decay’d,
And pastoral melancholy.

That region left, the vale unfolds
Rich groves of lofty stature,
  
50
With Yarrow winding through the pomp
Of cultivated Nature;
And rising from those lofty groves
Behold a ruin hoary,
The shatter’d front of Newark’s Towers,
  
55
Renown’d in Border story.

Fair scenes for childhood’s opening bloom,
For sportive youth to stray in,
For manhood to enjoy his strength,
And age to wear away in!
  
60
Yon cottage seems a bower of bliss,
A covert for protection
Of studious ease and generous cares
And every chaste affection!

How sweet on this autumnal day
  
65
The wild-wood fruits to gather,
And on my true-love’s forehead plant
A crest of blooming heather!
And what if I enwreathed my own?
‘Twere no offence to reason;
  
70
The sober hills thus deck their brows
To meet the wintry season.

I see — but not by sight alone,
Loved Yarrow, have I won thee;
A ray of Fancy still survives —
75
Her sunshine plays upon thee!
Thy ever-youthful waters keep
A course of lively pleasure;
And gladsome notes my lips can breathe
Accordant to the measure.
  
80

The vapours linger round the heights,
They melt, and soon must vanish;
One hour is theirs, nor more is mine —
Sad thought! which I would banish,
But that I know, where’er I go,
  
85
Thy genuine image, Yarrow!
Will dwell with me, to heighten joy
And cheer my mind in sorrow.

List of Poems in Alphabetical Order

List of Poets in Alphabetical Order

Yarrow Revisited

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

THE GALLANT Youth, who may have gained,
 
Or seeks, a ‘winsome Marrow,’
Was but an Infant in the lap
 
When first I looked on Yarrow;
Once more, by Newark’s Castle-gate
  
5
 
Long left without a warder,
I stood, looked, listened, and with Thee,
 
Great Minstrel of the Border!

Grave thoughts ruled wide on that sweet day,
 
Their dignity installing
  
10
In gentle bosoms, while sere leaves
 
Were on the bough, or falling;
But breezes played, and sunshine gleamed —
 
The forest to embolden;
Reddened the fiery hues, and shot
  
15
 
Transparence through the golden.

For busy thoughts the Stream flowed on
 
In foamy agitation;
And slept in many a crystal pool
 
For quiet contemplation:
  
20
No public and no private care
 
The freeborn mind enthralling,
We made a day of happy hours,
 
Our happy days recalling.

Brisk Youth appeared, the Morn of youth,
  
25
 
With freaks of graceful folly —
Life’s temperate Noon, her sober Eve,
 
Her Night not melancholy;
Past, present, future, all appeared
 
In harmony united,
  
30
Like guests that meet, and some from far,
 
By cordial love invited.

And if, as Yarrow, through the woods
 
And down the meadow ranging,
Did meet us with unaltered face,
  
35
 
Though we were changed and changing;
If,
then,
some natural shadows spread
 
Our inward prospect over,
The soul’s deep valley was not slow
 
Its brightness to recover.
  
40

Eternal blessings on the Muse,
 
And her divine employment!
The blameless Muse, who trains her Sons
 
For hope and calm enjoyment;
Albeit sickness, lingering yet,
  
45
 
Has o’er their pillow brooded;
And Care waylays their steps — a Sprite
 
Not easily eluded.

For thee, O SCOTT! compelled to change
 
Green Eildon-hill and Cheviot
  
50
For warm Vesuvio’s vine-clad slopes,
 
And leave thy Tweed and Tiviot
For mild Sorrento’s breezy waves;
 
May classic Fancy, linking
With native Fancy her fresh aid,
  
55
 
Preserve thy heart from sinking!

Oh! while they minister to thee,
 
Each vying with the other,
May Health return to mellow Age
 
With Strength, her venturous brother;
  
60
And Tiber, and each brook and rill
 
Renowned in song and story,
With unimagined beauty shine,
 
Nor lose one ray of glory!

For Thou, upon a hundred streams,
  
65
 
By tales of love and sorrow,
Of faithful love, undaunted truth,
 
Hast shed the power of Yarrow;
And streams unknown, hills yet unseen,
 
Wherever they invite Thee,
  
70
At parent Nature’s grateful call,
 
With gladness must requite Thee.

A gracious welcome shall be thine,
 
Such looks of love and honour
As thy own Yarrow gave to me
  
75
 
When first I gazed upon her;
Beheld what I had feared to see,
 
Unwilling to surrender
Dreams treasured up from early days,
 
The holy and the tender.
  
80

And what, for this frail world, were all
 
That mortals do or suffer,
Did no responsive harp, no pen,
 
Memorial tribute offer?
Yea, what were mighty Nature’s self?
  
85
 
Her features, could they win us,
Unhelped by the poetic voice
 
That hourly speaks within us?

Nor deem that localized Romance
 
Plays false with our affections;
  
90
Unsanctifies our tears — made sport
 
For fanciful dejections;
Ah, no! the visions of the past
 
Sustain the heart in feeling
Life as she is — our changeful Life,
  
95
 
With friends and kindred dealing.

Bear witness, Ye, whose thoughts that day
 
In Yarrow’s groves were centred;
Who through the silent portal arch
 
Of mouldering Newark enter’d;
  
100
And clomb the winding stair that once
 
Too timidly was mounted
By the ‘last Minstrel,’ (not the last!)
 
Ere he his Tale recounted.

Flow on for ever, Yarrow Stream!
  
105
 
Fulfil thy pensive duty,
Well pleased that future Bards should chant
 
For simple hearts thy beauty;
To dream-light dear while yet unseen
 
Dear to the common sunshine,
  
110
And dearer still, as now I feel,
 
To memory’s shadowy moonshine!

List of Poems in Alphabetical Order

List of Poets in Alphabetical Order