The Prelude

There comes a pause, for human strength will not endure to dance without cessation; and everyone must reach the point at length of absolute prostration.

The deep power of joy

With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony and by the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things.

How gracious is Solitude

When from our better selves we have too long
Been parted by the hurrying world, and droop,
Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired,
How gracious, how benign, is Solitude.

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our Life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home...

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home ...