Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/423

397 And the infinite magnificence of heaven,

Within the reach of every human eye;

The sleepless Ocean murmurs for all ears;

The vernal field infuses fresh delight

Into all hearts. Throughout the world of sense

Even as an object is sublime or fair,

That object is laid open to the view

Without reserve or veil; and as a power

Is salutary, or an influence sweet,

Are each and all enabled to perceive

That power, that influence, by impartial law.

Gifts nobler are vouchsafed alike to all;

Reason,—and, with that reason, smiles and tears;

Imagination, freedom in the will,

Conscience to guide and check; and death to be

Foretasted, immortality presumed.

Strange, then, nor less than monstrous might be deemed

The failure, if the Almighty, to this point

Liberal and undistinguishing, should hide

The excellence of moral qualities

From common understanding; leaving truth

And virtue, difficult, abstruse, and dark;

Hard to be won, and only by a few;