ODE TO DUTY

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by williamwordsworth

by williamwordsworth

Composed 1805.--Published 1807

"Jam non consilio bonus, sed more eò perductus, ut non tantum rectè facere possim, sed nisi rectè facere non possim." [A]

[This Ode is on the model of Gray's 'Ode to Adversity', which is copied from Horace's Ode to Fortune. Many and many a time have I been twitted by my wife and sister for having forgotten this dedication of myself to the stern law-giver.Transgressor indeed I have been from hour to hour, from day to day: I would fain hope, however, not more flagrantly, or in a worse way than most of my tuneful brethren. But these last words are in a wrong strain. We should be rigorous to ourselves, and forbearing, if not indulgent, to others; and, if we make comparison at all, it ought to be with those who have morally excelled us.--I. F.]

In pencil on the MS., "But is not the first stanza of Gray's from a chorus of Æschylus? And is not Horace's Ode also modelled on the Greek?"This poem was placed by Wordsworth among his "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--Ed.

Stern Daughter of the Voice of God!

O Duty! if that name thou love

Who art a light to guide, a rod

To check the erring, and reprove;

Thou, who art victory and law

When empty terrors overawe;

From vain temptations dost set free;

And calm'st the weary strife of frail humanity! [1]

There are who ask not if thine eye

Be on them; who, in love and truth,

Where no misgiving is, rely

Upon the genial sense of youth: [B]

Glad Hearts! without reproach or blot;

Who do thy work, [2] and know it not:

Oh, if through confidence misplaced

They fail, thy saving arms, dread

Power! around them cast. [3]

Serene will be our days and bright,

And happy will our nature be,

When love is an unerring light,

And joy its own security.

And they a blissful course may hold

Even now, who, not unwisely bold, [4]

Live in the spirit of this creed;

Yet seek thy firm support, [5] according to their need.

I, loving freedom, and untried;

No sport of every random gust,

Yet being to myself a guide,

Too blindly have reposed my trust:

And oft, when in my heart was heard

Thy timely mandate, I deferred

The task, in smoother walks to stray; [6]

But thee I now [7] would serve more strictly, if I may.

Through no disturbance of my soul,

Or strong compunction in me wrought,

I supplicate for thy control;

But in the quietness of thought:

Me this unchartered freedom tires; [C]

I feel the weight of chance-desires:

My hopes no more must change their name,

I long for a repose that [8] ever is the same. [9]

Stern Lawgiver! yet thou dost wear

The Godhead's most benignant grace;

Nor know we any thing so [10] fair

As is the smile upon thy face: [D]

Flowers laugh before thee on their beds

And fragrance in thy footing treads; [E]

Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong;

And the most ancient heavens, through Thee, are fresh and strong.

To humbler functions, awful Power!

I call thee: I myself commend

Unto thy guidance from this hour;

Oh, let my weakness have an end!

Give unto me, made lowly wise,

The spirit of self-sacrifice;

The confidence of reason give;

And in the light of truth thy Bondman let me live! [F]

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VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:1815

From strife and from despair; a glorious ministry. 1807.]

[Variant 2:

... the right ... MS. ... thy will ... MS.]

[Variant 3:1837.

May joy be theirs while life shall last!
And Thou, if they should totter, teach them to stand fast! 1807.
Long may the kindly impulse last!
But Thou, ... 1827.

And may that genial sense remain, when youth is past. MS.]

[Variant 4:1827.

And bless'd are they who in the main
This faith, even now, do entertain: 1807.

Even now this creed do entertain MS.

This holy creed do entertain MS.]

[Variant 5:1845.

Yet find that other strength, ... 1807.

Yet find thy firm support, ... 1837.]

[Variant 6:1827.

Resolved that nothing e'er should press

Upon my present happiness,

I shoved unwelcome tasks away; 1807.

Full oft, when in my heart was heard

Thy timely mandate, I deferred

The task imposed, from day to day; 1815.]

[Variant 7:

But henceforth I would ... MS.]

[Variant 8: 1827

. ... which ... 1807.]

[Variant 9:

Yet not the less would I throughout

Still act according to the voice

Of my own wish; and feel past doubt

That my submissiveness was choice:

Not seeking in the school of pride

For "precepts over dignified,"

Denial and restraint I prize

No farther than they breed a second Will more wise.

Only in the edition of 1807.]

[Variant 10:

... more ... MS.]

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FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: This motto was added in the edition of 1837.--Ed.]

[Footnote B: Compare S. T. C. in 'The Friend' (edition 1818, vol. iii.p. 62),

"Its instinct, its safety, its benefit, its glory is to love, to admire, to feel, and to labour."Ed.]

[Footnote C: Compare Churchill's 'Gotham', i. 49:

'An Englishman in chartered freedom born.'Ed.]

[Footnote D: Compare in 'Sartor Resartus',

"Happy he for whom a kind of heavenly sun brightens it [Necessity] into a ring of Duty, and plays round it with beautiful prismatic refractions."Ed.]

[Footnote E: Compare Persius, 'Satura', ii. l. 38:

'Quidquic calcaverit hic, rosa fiat.'

And Ben Jonson, in 'The Sad Shepherd', act I. scene i. ll. 8, 9:

'And where she went, the flowers took thickest root,
As she had sow'd them with her odorous foot.'

Also, a similar reference to Aphrodite in Hesiod, 'Theogony', vv. 192'seq.'--Ed.][Footnote F: Compare S. T. C. in 'The Friend' (edition 1818), vol. iii.p. 64.--Ed.]

Mr. J. R. Tutin has supplied me with the text of a proof copy of the sheets of the edition of 1807, which was cancelled by Wordsworth, in which the following stanzas take the place of the first four of that edition:

'There are who tread a blameless way

In purity, and love, and truth,

Though resting on no better stay

Than on the genial sense of youth:

Glad Hearts! without reproach or blot;

Who do the right, and know it not:

May joy be theirs while life shall last

And may a genial sense remain, when youth is past.

Serene would be our days and bright;

And happy would our nature be;

If Love were an unerring light;

And Joy its own security.

And bless'd are they who in the main,

This creed, even now, do entertain,

Do in this spirit live; yet know

That Man hath other hopes; strength which elsewhere must grow.

I, loving freedom, and untried;

No sport of every random gust,

Yet being to myself a guide,

Too blindly have reposed my trust;

Resolv'd that nothing e'er should press

Upon my present happiness,

I shov'd unwelcome tasks away:

But henceforth I would serve; and strictly if I may.

O Power of DUTY! sent from God

To enforce on earth his high behest,

And keep us faithful to the road

Which conscience hath pronounc'd the best:

Thou, who art Victory and Law

When empty terrors overawe;

From vain temptations dost set free,

From Strife, and from Despair, a glorious Ministry! [G]'

Ed.

[Footnote G: In the original MS. sent to the printer, I find that this stanza was transcribed by Coleridge.--Ed.]

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