Classic and Contemporary Poetry
COMPOSED AT CORA LINN; IN SIGHT OF WALLACE'S TOWER, by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Lord of the vale! Astounding flood Last Line: That day the tyrant fell. Subject(s): Cora Linn, Scotland | ||||||||
" -- How Wallace fought for Scotland, left the name Of Wallace to be found, like a wild flower, All over his dear Country; left the deeds Of Wallace, like a family of ghosts, To people the steep rocks and river banks, Her natural sanctuaries, with a local soul Of independence and stern liberty." Prelude, Book I, 214-20. LORD of the vale! astounding Flood; The dullest leaf in this thick wood Quakes -- conscious of thy power; The caves reply with hollow moan; And vibrates, to its central stone, Yon time-cemented Tower! And yet how fair the rural scene! For thou, O Clyde, hast ever been Beneficent as strong; Pleased in refreshing dews to steep The little trembling flowers that peep Thy shelving rocks among. Hence all who love their country, love To look on thee -- delight to rove Where they thy voice can hear; And, to the patriot-warrior's Shade, Lord of the vale! to Heroes laid In dust, that voice is dear! Along thy banks, at dead of night Sweeps visibly the Wallace Wight; Or stands, in warlike vest, Aloft, beneath the moon's pale beam, A Champion worthy of the stream, Yon grey tower's living crest! But clouds and envious darkness hide A Form not doubtfully descried: -- Their transient mission o'er, O say to what blind region flee These Shapes of awful phantasy? To what untrodden shore? Less than divine command they spurn; But this we from the mountains learn, And this the valleys show; That never will they deign to hold Communion where the heart is cold To human weal and woe. The man of abject soul in vain Shall walk the Marathonian plain; Or thrid the shadowy gloom, That still invests the guardian Pass, Where stood, sublime, Leonidas Devoted to the tomb. And let no Slave his head incline, Or kneel, before the votive shrine By Uri's lake, where Tell Leapt, from his storm-vext boat, to land, Heaven's Instrument, for by his hand That day the Tyrant fell. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A JEWISH FAMILY; IN A SMALL VALLEY OPPOSITE ST. GOAR by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH ADMONITION [TO A TRAVELLER] by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AN APRIL MORNING by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH ANECDOTE FOR FATHERS by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH ANIMAL TRANQUILITY AND DECAY; A SKETCH by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AT FLORENCE by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AT THE GRAVE OF BURNS; SEVEN YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH BUONAPARTE by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH COMPOSED AT NEIDPATH CASTLE, 1803 by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH COMPOSED BY THE SEA-SIDE NEAR CALAIS [AUGUST 1802] by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH |
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