Now That All Hearts Are Glad
Now That All Hearts Are Glad - context Summary
Composed for a Coronation
Written for a coronation, the poem honors an elderly, sightless sovereign who cannot perceive the national joy. Wordsworth praises the monarch’s steadfast mind through war and meanwhile petitions divine mercy—addressing God as "Dread King of Kings"—to grant the ruler a momentary inward vision so he can share in the triumph. It expresses public reverence tempered by sympathy for the sovereign’s private loss.
Read Complete AnalysesNow that all hearts are glad, all faces bright, Our aged Sovereign sits, to the ebb and flow Of states and kingdoms, to their joy or woe, Insensible. He sits deprived of sight, And lamentably wrapt in twofold night, Whom no weak hopes deceived; whose mind ensued, Through perilous war, with regal fortitude, Peace that should claim respect from lawless Might. Dread King of Kings, vouchsafe a ray divine To his forlorn condition! let thy grace Upon his inner soul in mercy shine; Permit his heart to kindle, and to embrace (Though it were only for a moment's space) The triumphs of this hour; for they are THINE!
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