Lines Written on a Blank Leaf in a Copy of the Author's Poem 'the Excursion,'
Upon Hearing Of The Death Of The Late Vicar Of Kendal TO public notice, with reluctance strong, Did I deliver this unfinished Song; Yet for one happy issue;--and I look With self-congratulation on the Book Which pious, learned, MURFITT saw and read;-- Upon my thoughts his saintly Spirit fed; He conned the new-born Lay with grateful heart-- Foreboding not how soon he must depart; Unweeting that to him the joy was given Which good men take with them from earth to heaven.
Lines Written on a Blank Leaf in a Copy of the Author's Poem 'the Excursion,' - context Summary
Composed for a Vicar's Death
This short commemorative piece records Wordsworth’s reaction to the death of the vicar of Kendal, a man he respected. The speaker admits reluctance to make the loss public but finds consolation in a book the vicar, named Murfitt, read gratefully. The poem frames the vicar’s reading of an "unfinished Song" as a spiritual benefit, suggesting that the joy of appreciating poetry accompanies the faithful from earth to heaven.
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