Poetry Sunday: Lines Written in Early Spring by William Wordsworth

Spring and Wordsworth just seem to go together. While spring may be the favorite season of most Nature poets, I can't think of anyone who wrote more poems that reference spring than Wordsworth. And so, even though I have featured this poem here before, it seems worth repeating. The sentiments it expresses never really grow old or stale.

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 grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:—
But the least motion which they made
It seemed 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 this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

Comments

  1. David M. Gascoigne,March 21, 2021 at 5:22 AM

    "What man has made of man". That is the mystery of the ages it seems to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 21, 2021 at 8:43 AM

      It occasionally seems that the answer to that question is, "Not much." But that's only when "pleasant thoughts bring sad thoughts to the mind."

      Delete
  2. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzMarch 21, 2021 at 8:54 AM

    "To her fair works did Nature link
    The human soul that through me ran;
    And much it grieved my heart to think
    What man has made of man."

    Ominous lines. And I'd add, What man has made of nature.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 21, 2021 at 9:03 AM

      Which, it must be said, is even sadder than what man has made of man.

      Delete
  3. Judy KruegerMarch 21, 2021 at 11:33 AM

    What man has made of man has surely been in my thoughts lately.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 21, 2021 at 11:34 AM

      It's a thought that is hard to avoid when one considers the daily news.

      Delete

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