"SIX MONTHS TO SIX YEARS ADDED HE REMAINED"

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Published 1837


One of the "Epitaphs and Elegiac Pieces."--ED.


Six months to six years added he remained

Upon this sinful earth, by sin unstained:

O blessed Lord! whose mercy then removed

A Child whom every eye that looked on loved;

Support us, teach us calmly to resign

What we possessed, and now is wholly thine![59]


[59] This refers to the poet's son Thomas, who died December 1, 1812. He was buried in Grasmere churchyard, beside his sister Catherine; and Wordsworth placed these lines upon his tombstone. They may have been written much earlier than 1836, probably in 1813, but it is impossible to ascertain the date, and they were not published till 1837. --ED.

 

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