THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, VOL. 8 (Completed)

VALEDICTORY SONNET [196]

Composed 1838.--Published 1838

One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.

Serving no haughty Muse, my hands have here

Disposed some cultured Flowerets (drawn from spots

Where they bloomed singly, or in scattered knots),

Each kind in several beds of one parterre;

Both to allure the casual Loiterer,

And that, so placed, my Nurslings may requite

Studious regard with opportune delight,

Nor be unthanked, unless I fondly err.

But metaphor dismissed, and thanks apart,

Reader, farewell! My last words let them be--

If in this book Fancy and Truth agree;

If simple Nature trained by careful Art

Through It have won a passage to thy heart;

Grant me thy love, I crave no other fee!

[196] This closed the volume of sonnets published in 1838.--ED.