It Was An April Morning Fresh And Clear - Richard Mitchley

It Was An April Morning Fresh And Clear By William Wordsworth

It was an April morning: fresh and clear

The Rivulet delighting in its strength

Ran with a young man's speed; and yet the voice

Of waters which the winter had supplied

Was softened down into a vernal tone

The spirit of enjoyment and desire

And hopes and wishes from all living things

Went circling like a multitude of sounds

The budding groves seemed eager to urge on

The steps of June; as if their various hues

Were only hindrances that stood between

Them and their object: but meanwhile prevailed

Such an entire contentment in the air

That every naked ash and tardy tree

Yet leafless showed as if the countenance

With which it looked on this delightful day

Were native to the summer Up the brook

I roamed in the confusion of my heart

Alive to all things and forgetting all

At length I to a sudden turning came

In this continuous glen where down a rock

The Stream so ardent in its course before

Sent forth such sallies of glad sound that all

Which I till then had heard appeared the voice

Of common pleasure: beast and bird the lamb

The shepherd's dog the linnet and the thrush

Vied with this waterfall and made a song

Which while I listened seemed like the wild growth

Or like some natural produce of the air

That could not cease to be Green leaves were here;

But 'twas the foliage of the rocks the birch

The yew the holly and the bright green thorn

With hanging islands of resplendent furze:

And on a summit distant a short space

By any who should look beyond the dell

A single mountain-cottage might be seen

I gazed and gazed and to myself I said

'Our thoughts at least are ours; and this wild nook

My EMMA I will dedicate to thee '

Soon did the spot become my other home

My dwelling and my out-of-doors abode

And of the Shepherds who have seen me there

To whom I sometimes in our idle talk

Have told this fancy two or three perhaps

Years after we are gone and in our graves

When they have cause to speak of this wild place

May call it by the name of EMMA'S DELL