Page:The Recluse, Wordsworth, 1888.djvu/67

Rh Descend, prophetic Spirit! that inspir'st

The human Soul of universal earth,

Dreaming on things to come; and dost possess

A metropolitan temple in the hearts

Of mighty Poets; upon me bestow

A gift of genuine insight; that my Song

With star-like virtue in its place may shine,

Shedding benignant influence, and secure

Itself from all malevolent effect

Of those mutations that extend their sway

Throughout the nether sphere!—And if with this

I mix more lowly matter; with the thing

Contemplated, describe the Mind and Man

Contemplating; and who, and what he was—

The transitory Being that beheld

This Vision;—when and where, and how he lived;