And the most ancient heavens, through Thee, are fresh and strong.—Ed.
[C] Compare, in the Fragment, vol. viii., beginning "No doubt if you in terms direct had asked," the phrase—
... the goings on
Of earth and sky.Ed.
"O NIGHTINGALE! THOU SURELY ART"
Composed 1807 (probably).—Published 1807
[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. (Mrs. W. says, in a note,—"At Coleorton.")—I. F.]
One of the "Poems of the Imagination."—Ed.
O Nightingale! thou surely art
A creature of a "fiery heart:"—[A][1]
These notes of thine—they pierce and pierce;
Tumultuous harmony and fierce!
Thou sing'st as if the God of wine 5
Had helped thee to a Valentine;[B]
A song in mockery and despite
Of shades, and dews, and silent night;
And steady bliss, and all the loves
Now sleeping in these peaceful groves. 10