Page:Poems by William Wordsworth (1815) Volume 2.djvu/164

156 Stern Lawgiver! yet thou dost wear

The Godhead's most benignant grace;

Nor know we any thing so fair

As is the smile upon thy face:

Flowers laugh before thee on their beds;

And Fragrance in thy footing treads;

Thou dost preserve the Stars from wrong;

And the most ancient Heavens through Thee are fresh and strong.

To humbler functions, awful Power!

I call thee: I myself commend

Unto thy guidance from this hour;

Oh! let my weakness have an end!

Give unto me, made lowly wise,

The spirit of self-sacrifice;

The confidence of reason give;

And in the light of truth thy Bondman let me live!