TO WORDSWORTH.

AMONG my unabating joys are these,
That under thy calm roof I pressed the hand
Whose life had been obedience to command
Of rarest genius; that beneath thy trees
I shared with thee thy cordial mountain-breeze,
Answered thy speech, and looked into the bland
Mysterious eyes that had beshone the land
Those inlets to deep beauty's boundless seas,—
And there, beside thy household lakes, did hear
Thee laugh, and feel thy smile, so kindly blent
With hospitalities, that since that year.
Thy face hath been a loved accompaniment
To the grand music, mounting tier on tier,
That to my thought profounder rhythm hath lent.

WORDSWORTH.

I.

HAWKSHEAD.

DEDICATING to Wordsworth his Oxford lectures on poetry, Keble used the phrase ad sanctiora erigeret, language which Words

worth might with deserved tribute. holier things had

rightful pride accept as a To lift his reader towards ever been his aim. Of poetry the highest office is to set forth the best possibilities of human nature, to articulate what, in the depths of man's being, is pure, is holy, is truest. To this Wordsworth earnestly devoted his life and faculties; and having faculties strong, clear, penetrating, all quickened and refined by poetic sensibility, the devotion resulted in a life-work which is a priceless mental treasure to the scores of millions who speak to-day the English tongue, an inexhaustible treasure, to enrich the hundreds of millions of coming generations.