By the Side of the Grave Some Years After
By the Side of the Grave Some Years After - meaning Summary
Enduring Local Remembrance
Wordsworth's poem remembers a deceased local benefactor whose gifts continue to shape his native valley. The community recalls daily, practical blessings that have lasted decades, and even the man’s faults are granted a gentle, charitable afterlife. The speaker finds consolation both in communal gratitude and in Christian hope, as faith’s promise adds spiritual meaning to the memory of the grave.
Read Complete AnalysesLONG time his pulse hath ceased to beat But benefits, his gift, we trace-- Expressed in every eye we meet Round this dear Vale, his native place. To stately Hall and Cottage rude Flowed from his life what still they hold, Light pleasures, every day, renewed; And blessings half a century old. Oh true of heart, of spirit gay, Thy faults, where not already gone From memory, prolong their stay For charity's sweet sake alone. Such solace find we for our loss; And what beyond this thought we crave Comes in the promise from the Cross, Shining upon thy happy grave.
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