On Seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams Weep
At A Tale Of Distress
On Seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams Weep - meaning Summary
Compassion Revealed by Tears
Wordsworth watches Helen Maria Williams weep and is deeply moved. Her tears trigger a physical and emotional response in the speaker, who reads them as evidence of her inner virtue and compassion. The poem links visible sorrow to moral radiance, suggesting that goodness revealed in grief will guide and comfort others like an evening star. It also reflects Wordsworth’s personal admiration for Williams as a moral exemplar.
Read Complete AnalysesShe wept.--Life's purple tide began to flow In languid streams through every thrilling vein; Dim were my swimming eyes--my pulse beat slow, And my full heart was swell'd to dear delicious pain. Life left my loaded heart, and closing eye; A sigh recall'd the wanderer to my breast; Dear was the pause of life, and dear the sigh That call'd the wanderer home, and home to rest. That tear proclaims--in thee each virtue dwells, And bright will shine in misery's midnight hour; As the soft star of dewy evening tells What radiant fires were drown'd by day's malignant pow'r, That only wait the darkness of the night To cheer the wand'ring wretch with hospitable light.
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