Valedictory Sonnet to the River Duddon
1770-1850
I THOUGHT of Thee, my partner and my guide,
As being pass'd away.--Vain sympathies!
For, backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes,
I see what was, and is, and will abide;
Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide;
The Form remains, the Function never dies;
While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise,
We Men, who in our morn of youth defied
The elements, must vanish;--be it so!
Enough, if something from our hands have power
To live, and act, and serve the future hour;
And if, as toward the silent tomb we go,
Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower,
We feel that we are greater than we know.
DayPoems Poem No. 490
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/490.html">Valedictory Sonnet to the River Duddon by William Wordsworth</a>
The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor
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