The old inventive Poets, had they seen,
Or rather felt, the entrancement that detains
Thy waters, Duddon! ‘mid these flowery plains
The still repose, the liquid lapse serene,
Transferred to bowers imperishably green,
Had beautified Elysium! But these chains
Will soon be broken;—a rough course remains,
Rough as the past; where Thou, of placid mien,
Innocuous as a firstling of the flock,
And countenanced like a soft cerulean sky,
Shalt change thy temper; and, with many a shock
Given and received in mutual jeopardy,
Dance, like a Bacchanal, from rock to rock,
Tossing her frantic thyrsus wide and high!
Read all of William Wordsworth's poems · About William Wordsworth
More by William Wordsworth
- The River Duddon - A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. - XXI - Whence That Low Voice?
- The River Duddon - A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. - XXII - Tradition
- The River Duddon - A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. - XXIII - Sheep-Washing
- The River Duddon - A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. - XXIV - The Resting Place
- The River Duddon - A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. - XXV - Methinks 'twere No Unprecedented Feat
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