After-thought
After-thought - context Summary
Concluding Sonnet, 1820
Wordsworth’s "After-thought" is the closing sonnet of The River Duddon sequence (published 1820). Composed late in his career, it reflects his lifelong bond with the Lake District and presents the sequence’s final meditation: the river’s endurance contrasted with human mortality. The poem accepts individual transience while valuing acts and creations that "live, and act, and serve the future hour," ending in a consolatory faith in love, hope, and an unrecognized greater self.
Read Complete AnalysesI thought of Thee, my partner and my guide, As being past away.--Vain sympathies! For, backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes, I see what was, and is, and will abide; Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide; The Form remains, the Function never dies; While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise, We Men, who in our morn of youth defied The elements, must vanish;--be it so! Enough, if something from our hands have power To live, and act, and serve the future hour; And if, as toward the silent tomb we go, Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower, We feel that we are greater than we know.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.