quote · Legacy record
Who fancied what a pretty sight This rock would be if edged around With living snow-drops? circlet bright! How glorious to this orchard ground! Who loved the little rock, and set Upon its head this coronet? Was it the humour of a child? Or rather of some gentle maid, Whose brows, the day that she was styled The Shepherd-queen, were thus arrayed? Of man mature, or matron sage? Or old man toying with his age? I asked—’twas whispered, “The device To each and all might well belong: It is the Spirit of Paradise That prompts such work, a Spirit strong That gives to all the self-same bent Where life is wise and innocent.”
Who fancied what a pretty sight This rock would be if edged around With living snow-drops? circlet bright! How glorious to this orchard ground! Who loved the little rock, and set Upon its head this coronet? Was it the humour of a child? Or rather of some gentle maid, Whose brows, the day that she was styled The Shepherd-queen, were thus arrayed? Of man mature, or matron sage? Or old man toying with his age? I asked—’twas whispered, “The device To each and all might well belong: It is the Spirit of Paradise That prompts such work, a Spirit strong That gives to all the self-same bent Where life is wise and innocent.”
Approximate author period: c. 1810 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- William Wordsworth
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1810 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1770–1850)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- My Commonplace Book (third English edition,1921) (1921 AD)
Page 40 · printed citation: Wordsworth. · compiler notes excluded
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.