History & Politics

Call not the royal Swede unfortunate

by William Wordsworth 1770–1850

From Poetical Works, ed. Knight (1896), vol. IV

History & Politics

Call not the royal Swede unfortunate,
Who never did to Fortune bend the knee;
Who slighted fear; rejected steadfastly
Temptation; and whose kingly name and state
Have "perished by his choice, and not his fate!"
Hence lives He, to his inner self endeared;
And hence, wherever virtue is revered,
He sits a more exalted Potentate,
Throned in the hearts of men. Should Heaven ordain
That this great Servant of a righteous cause
Must still have sad or vexing thoughts to endure,
Yet may a sympathizing spirit pause,
Admonished by these truths, and quench all pain
In thankful joy and gratulation pure.

✦ ✦ ✦

Composed 1809; published 1815.

MLA

Wordsworth, William. “Call not the royal Swede unfortunate.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wordsworth/240/.

Chicago

Wordsworth, William. “Call not the royal Swede unfortunate.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wordsworth/240/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by William Wordsworth