Poem by James Kenneth Stephen

Wordsworth

TWO voices are there: one is of the deep;
It learns the storm-cloud's thunderous melody,
Now roars, now murmurs with the changing sea,
Now bird-like pipes, now closes soft in sleep:
And one is of an old half-witted sheep
Which bleats articulate monotony,
And indicates that two and one are three,
That grass is green, lakes damp, and mountains steep:
And, Wordsworth, both are thine: at certain times
Forth from the heart of thy melodious rhymes,
The form and pressure of high thoughts will burst:
At other times--good Lord! I'd rather be
Quite unacquainted with the A,B,C,
Than write such hopeless rubbish as thy worst.

1. After the Golden Wedding (Three Soliloquies)
2. Steam-Launches on the Thames
3. The Last Ride Together (after Browning)
4. My Education
5. The Philosopher and the Philanthropist

Henry Van Dyke Wordsworth ("Wordsworth, thy music like a river rolls")

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