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The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth (6)
The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth - 6 Author:William Angus Knight Volume: 6 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1884 Original Publisher: W. Paterson Subjects: History / General Literary Criticism / Poetry Poetry / General Poetry / American / General Poetry / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illus... more »trations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: DIOK (see Plutarch). Comp. 1814. Pub. 1820. [This poem was first introduced by a stanza that I have since transferred to the Notes, for reasons there given, and I cannot comply with the request expressed by some of my friends that the rejected stanza should be restored. I hope they will be content if it be, hereafter, immediately attached to the poem, instead of its being degraded to a pkce in the Notes.] To the edition of 1836, and subsequent onea, Wordsworth appended the following note : -- "This poem began with the following stanza, which has been displaced on account of its detaining the reader too long from the subject, and as rather precluding, than preparing for, the due effect of the allusion to the genius of Plato. " Fair is the Swan, whose majesty, prevailing O'er breezelcss water, on Locarno's lake, Bears him on while proudly sailing He leaves behind a moon-illuuiinetl wake : Behold ! the muntling spirit of reserve Fashions his neck into a goodly curve; An arch thrown back between luxuriant wings Of whitest garniture, like fir-tree boughs To which, on some unruffled morning, clings A flaky weight of winter's purest snows ! -- Behold ! -- as with a gushing impulse heaves That downy prow, and softly cleaves The mirror of the crystal flood, Vanish inverted hill, and shadowy wood, And pendent rocks, where'er, in gliding state, Winds the mute Creature without visible Mate ...« less