“Change me, some God, into that breathing rose!”
The love-sick Stripling fancifully sighs,
The envied flower beholding, as it lies
On Laura’s breast, in exquisite repose;
Or he would pass into her bird, that throws
The darts of song from out its wiry cage;
Enraptured,–could he for himself engage
The thousandth part of what the Nymph bestows;
And what the little careless innocent
Ungraciously receives. Too daring choice!
There are whose calmer mind it would content
To be an unculled floweret of the glen,
Fearless of plough and scythe; or darkling wren
That tunes on Duddon’s banks her slender voice.
Read all of William Wordsworth's poems · About William Wordsworth
More by William Wordsworth
- The River Duddon - A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. - VIII - What Aspect Bore The Man Who Roved Or Fled
- The River Duddon - A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. - X - The Same Subject
- The River Duddon - A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. - XI - The Faery Chasm
- The River Duddon - A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. - XII - Hints For The Fancy
- The River Duddon - A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. - XIII - Open Prospect
Write poetry? Submit your poem to Poetry Catalog