After-thought
I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide, As being past away.--Vain sympathies! For, backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes, I see what was, and is, and will abide; Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide; The Form remains, the Function never dies; While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise, We Men, who in our morn of youth defied The elements, must vanish;--be it so! Enough, if something from our hands have power To live, and act, and serve the future hour; And if, as toward the silent tomb we go, Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower, We feel that we are greater than we know.
After-thought - context Summary
Concluding Sonnet, 1820
Wordsworth’s "After-thought" is the closing sonnet of The River Duddon sequence (published 1820). Composed late in his career, it reflects his lifelong bond with the Lake District and presents the sequence’s final meditation: the river’s endurance contrasted with human mortality. The poem accepts individual transience while valuing acts and creations that "live, and act, and serve the future hour," ending in a consolatory faith in love, hope, and an unrecognized greater self.
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