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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS: PART 3: 18. PASTORAL CHARACTER by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Poet Analysis

First Line: A GENIAL HEARTH, A HOSPITABLE BOARD
Last Line: THE STUBBORN SPIRIT OF REBELLIOUS MAN?

A GENIAL hearth, a hospitable board,
And a refined rusticity, belong
To the neat mansion, where, his flock among,
The learned Pastor dwells, their watchful Lord.
Though meek and patient as a sheathed sword;
Though pride's least lurking thought appear a wrong
To human kind; though peace be on his tongue,
Gentleness in his heart -- can earth afford
Such genuine state, pre-eminence so free,
As when, arrayed in Christ's authority,
He from the pulpit lifts his awful hand;
Conjures, implores, and labours all he can
For re-subjecting to divine command
The stubborn spirit of rebellious man?




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