[Variant 1:]

In 1819 Wordsworth wrote the opening stanza of his version of

The Cuckoo and the Nightingale

, in the album of Mrs. Calvert at Keswick, thus:

The God of Love—ah, benedicite!
How mighty and how great a Lord is He!
High can he make the heart that's low and poor,
And high hearts low—through pains that they endure,
And hard hearts, He can make them kind and free.



W. W., Nov. 27, 1819.

The God of Love—ah, benedicite!
How mighty and how great a Lord is He!
High can he make the heart that's low and poor,
And high hearts low—through pains that they endure,
And hard hearts, He can make them kind and free.

[return]

[Variant 2:]

1842
... have heard ...1841