["HOW RICH THAT FOREHEAD'S CALM EXPANSE!"]
Composed 1824.—Published 1827
[Written at Rydal Mount. Mrs. Wordsworth's impression is that the Poem was written at Coleorton: it was certainly suggested by a Print at Coleorton Hall.—I. F.]
One of the "Poems founded on the Affections."—Ed.
How rich that forehead's calm expanse!
How bright that heaven-directed glance!
—Waft her to glory, wingèd Powers,
Ere sorrow be renewed,
And intercourse with mortal hours 5
Bring back a humbler mood!
So looked Cecilia when she drew
An Angel from his station;[384]
So looked; not ceasing to pursue
Her tuneful adoration! 10
But hand and voice alike are still;
No sound here sweeps away the will
That gave it birth: in service meek
One upright arm sustains the cheek,
And one across the bosom lies— 15
That rose, and now forgets to rise,
Subdued by breathless harmonies
Of meditative feeling;
Mute strains from worlds beyond the skies,
Through the pure light of female eyes, 20
Their sanctity revealing!
FOOTNOTES:
[384] Compare Dryden's Alexander's Feast, an Ode in honour of St. Cecilia's Day—
Timotheus. He raised a mortal to the skies.
Cecilia. She drew an angel down.—Ed.