ODE.
Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.
The Child is father[1] of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
I.
There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled[2] in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;—
Turn wheresoe'er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.
II.
The rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the rose;
The moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare;
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath passed away a glory from the earth.
III.
Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song,
And while the young lambs bound
As to the tabor's[3] sound,
To me alone there came a thought of grief:
A timely utterance gave that thought relief,
And I again am strong.
The cataracts[4] blow their trumpets from the steep;
No more shall grief of mine the season wrong;
I hear the echoes[5] through the mountains throng;
The winds come to me from the fields of sleep,[6]
And all the earth is gay;
Land and sea
Give themselves up to jollity,[7]
And with the heart of May[8]
Doth every beast keep holiday.
Thou child of joy,
Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy shepherd-boy!