When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

5

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

10

The waves beside them danced, but they

Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company;
I gazed and gazed, — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.

15

For oft when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

20

CORONACH

27

“My Heart Leaps Up"

My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky.
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die!
The child is father of the man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

THE GRASSHOPPER AND CRICKET

29

To reflect back her blushes,

Or give sigh for sigh !
I'll not leave thee, thou lone one!

To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,

Go, sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter

Thy leaves o'er the bed,
When thy mates of the garden

Lie scentless and dead.

5

10

So soon may I follow,

When friendships decay,
And from Love's shining circle

The gems drop away!
When true hearts lie withered,

And fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit

This bleak world alone?

13

LEIGH HUNT

ENGLAND, 1784-1859

The Grasshopper and Cricket

Green little vaulter in the sunny grass,

Catching your heart up at the feel of June
Sole voice that's heard amidst the lazy noon,

20

When even the bees lag at the summoning brass;
And you, warm little housekeeper, who class

With those who think the candles come too soon,

Loving the fire, and with your tricksome tune 5 Nick the glad, silent moments as they pass ! O sweet and tiny cousins, that belong,

One to the fields, the other to the hearth, Both have your sunshine; both, though small, are

strong

At your clear hearts; and both seem given to earth 10 To sing in thoughtful ears their natural song,

In doors and out, summer and winter, mirth.

JOHN KEATS

ENGLAND, 1795–1821

On the Grasshopper and Cricket

The poetry of earth is never dead:

When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,

And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run 15 From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead. That is the Grasshopper's — he takes the lead

In summer luxury, - he has never done

With his delights; for, when tired out with fun, He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. 20 The poetry of earth is ceasing never: