Selections from Wordsworth and Tennyson
/ 2008-09-19 00:00:00
8. THOROUGH. This is by derivation the correct form of the modern word
"through." A.S. _thurh_, M.E. _thuruh_. The use of "thorough" is now
purely adjectival, except in archaic or poetic speech.
24. APOSTOLICAL. The stanza in which this word occurs was omitted in
1827 and 1832, because the expression was censured as almost profane.
Wordsworth in his dictated note to Miss Fenwick has the following: "The
word [apostolical] is adopted with reference to its derivation, implying
something sent out on a mission; and assuredly this little flower,
especially when the subject of verse, may be regarded, in its humble
degree, as administering both to moral and spiritual purposes."
TO THE CUCKOO
O blithe New-comer! I have heard,
I hear thee and rejoice.
O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird,
Or but a wandering Voice?
While I am lying on the grass, 5
Thy twofold shout I hear;
From hill to hill it seems to pass,
At once far off, and near.
Though babbling only to the Vale
Of sunshine and of flowers, 10
Thou bringest unto me a tale
Of visionary hours.
Thrice welcome, darling of the Spring!
Even yet thou art to me
No bird, but an invisible thing, 15
A voice, a mystery;
The same whom in my schoolboy days
I listened to; that Cry
Which made me look a thousand ways
In bush, and tree, and sky.
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