THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, VOL. 8 (Completed)

AT FURNESS ABBEY

Composed 1845.--Published 1845

One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.

Well have yon Railway Labourers to THIS ground

Withdrawn for noontide rest. They sit, they walk

Among the Ruins, but no idle talk

Is heard; to grave demeanour all are bound;

And from one voice a Hymn with tuneful sound

Hallows once more the long-deserted Quire[295]

And thrills the old sepulchral earth, around.

Others look up, and with fixed eyes admire

That wide-spanned arch, wondering how it was raised,

To keep, so high in air, its strength and grace:

All seem to feel the spirit of the place,

And by the general reverence God is praised:

Profane Despoilers, stand ye not reproved,

While thus these simple-hearted men are moved?

June 21st, 1845.

[295] See the note to the previous sonnet on Furness Abbey, p. 168.--ED.