It is true that "the eyes of the
soul" are blinded by a surfeit of worldly "goods." "I went to the Lake
District" (England), said John Burroughs, "to see what kind of a
country could produce a Wordsworth." Of course he found simple houses,
simple people, barren moors, heather-clad mountains, wild flowers, calm
lakes, plain, rugged simplicity.
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours.
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This sea, that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers--
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I'd rather be
A pagan, suckled in a creed outworn,
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus, rising from the sea,
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.
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