Excerpt from Selections From the Poems of William Wordsworth, Esq.: Chiefly for the Use of Schools and Young Persons He serves the muses erringly and ill, Whose aim is pleasure, light and fugitive. Many, however, it must he confessed, serve the muse to no better purpose, and too many to much worse but the poetry of Mr. Wordsworth is not thus debased; it is with him Philosophy set to Music. Man requires stimulus; his passions must be roused as well as his reason directed. Nothing appears to be so well calculated for this end as the occasional read ing of the Poets. In poetry the sense is quite martial, and comes upon us like a well-disciplined legion, firm, full, and measured. As kings usually select the tallest and stoutest men for soldiers, so do poets ransack the universe for the noblest creatures and images, and the most striking, strong, and beautiful thoughts and actions which they clothe, decorate, and marshal in the most graceful vestments, most lively colours, most captivating ornaments, and the most harmonious order. And as soldiers are trained to the most stately motions to the sound of music, so does the poet put into like stately motion his hat talions; hence a poem and an army are objects that captivate all beholders. Poetry leads to oratory; he who has his mind stored with poetical images, and his heart stored with poetical feelings, is prepared to become an orator. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.