History & Politics
Captivity--Mary Queen of Scots
From Poetical Works, ed. Knight (1896), vol. VI
"As the cold aspect of a sunless way
Strikes through the Traveller's frame with deadlier chill,
Oft as appears a grove, or obvious hill,
Glistening with unparticipated ray,
Or shining slope where he must never stray;
So joys, remembered without wish or will,
Sharpen the keenest edge of present ill,--
On the crushed heart a heavier burthen lay.
Just Heaven, contract the compass of my mind
To fit proportion with my altered state!
Quench those felicities whose light I find
Reflected in my bosom all too late!--
O be my spirit, like my thraldom, strait;
And, like mine eyes that stream with sorrow, blind!"
Cite this poem
MLA
Wordsworth, William. “Captivity--Mary Queen of Scots.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wordsworth/332/.
Chicago
Wordsworth, William. “Captivity--Mary Queen of Scots.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wordsworth/332/.
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