And if they had care, it has scattered their cares
While they dance, crying, "Long as ye please!"

They dance not for me, 25
Yet mine is their glee!
Thus pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find;
Thus a rich loving-kindness, redundantly kind,
Moves all nature to gladness and mirth. 30

The showers of the spring
Rouse the birds, and they sing;
If the wind do but stir for his proper delight,
Each leaf, that and this, his neighbour will kiss;[A]
Each wave, one and t'other, speeds after his brother; 35
They are happy, for that is their right!

Wordsworth went up to London in April 1806, where he stayed two months.
It was, doubtless, on that occasion that these lines were written. The
year mentioned in the Fenwick note is incorrect. It was in 1790 that
Wordsworth crossed France with his friend Jones.--ED.

VARIANTS:

[1] 1827.

Which ... 1807.

[2] 1820.

... but there's room ... 1807.

[3] 1807.

... with whatever be given;--
Full many a blithe day have past. MS.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Compare Michael Drayton, _The Muse's Elysium_, nymphal vi. ll. 4-7--

The wind had no more strength than this,
That leisurely it blew,
To make one leaf the next to kiss
That closely by it grew.

Wordsworth frequently confessed his obligation to Dr. Anderson--the
editor of the _British Poets_--for enabling him to acquaint himself with
the poetry of Drayton, and other early English writers.--ED.

POWER OF MUSIC

Composed 1806.--Published 1807

[Taken from life.--I. F.]

Classed among the "Poems of the Imagination." The original title in MS.
was "A Street Fiddler (in London)."--ED.

An Orpheus! an Orpheus! yes, Faith may grow bold,
And take to herself all the wonders of old;--
Near the stately Pantheon you'll meet with the same
In the street that from Oxford hath borrowed its name.

His station is there; and he works on the crowd, 5
He sways them with harmony merry and loud;
He fills with his power all their hearts to the brim--
Was aught ever heard like his fiddle and him?

What an eager assembly! what an empire is this!