These lines were published in The Monthly Packet, in July 1891, where the following note is appended by Miss Christabel Coleridge:--"Written circa 1852-3, and given to Mrs. Derwent Coleridge." But Miss Edith Coleridge, and Mr. E. H. Coleridge, tell me that they think they"belong to an earlier period." Mr. Coleridge writes, "I have heard Miss Wordsworth repeat the lines now printed, seated in her arm-chair, on the terrace at Rydal Mount."--ED.
The worship of this Sabbath morn,
How sweetly it begins!
With the full choral hymn of birds
Mingles no sad lament for sins.
Alas! my feet no more may join
The cheerful Sabbath train;
But if I inwardly lament,
Oh! may a will subdued all grief restrain.
No prisoner am I on this couch,
My mind is free to roam,
And leisure, peace, and loving friends,
Are the best treasures of an earthly home.
Such gifts are mine, then why deplore
The body's slow decay?
A warning mercifully sent
To fix my hopes upon a surer stay.
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THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, VOL. 8 (Completed)
PoetryThe Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Vol. 8. Edited by William Knight
