Page:The Prelude, Wordsworth, 1850.djvu/367

BOOK XIII.] Deal boldly with substantial things; in truth

And sanctity of passion, speak of these,

That justice may be done, obeisance paid

Where it is due: thus haply shall I teach,

Inspire, through unadulterated ears

Pour rapture, tenderness, and hope,—my theme

No other than the very heart of man,

As found among the best of those who live,

Not unexalted by religious faith,

Nor uninformed by books, good books, though few,

In Nature's presence: thence may I select

Sorrow, that is not sorrow, but delight;

And miserable love, that is not pain

To hear of, for the glory that redounds

Therefrom to human kind, and what we are.

Be mine to follow with no timid step

Where knowledge leads me: it shall be my pride

That I have dared to tread this holy ground,

Speaking no dream, but things oracular;

Matter not lightly to be heard by those

Who to the letter of the outward promise

Do read the invisible soul; by men adroit

In speech, and for communion with the world

Accomplished; minds whose faculties are then

Most active when they are most eloquent,