This sonnet was included among those "dedicated to Liberty."--ED.
Not 'mid the World's vain objects that[1] enslave The free-born Soul--that World whose vaunted skill In selfish interest perverts the will, Whose factions lead astray the wise and brave-- Not there; but in dark wood and rocky cave, 5 And hollow vale which foaming torrents fill With omnipresent murmur as they rave Down their steep beds, that never shall be still: Here, mighty Nature! in this school sublime I weigh the hopes and fears of suffering Spain; 10 For her consult the auguries of time, And through the human heart explore my way; And look and listen--gathering, whence[2] I may, Triumph, and thoughts no bondage can restrain.
Wordsworth began to write on the Convention of Cintra in November 1808, and sent two articles on the subject to the December (1808) and January (1809) numbers of _The Courier_. The subject grew in importance to him as he discussed it: and he threw his reflections on the subject into the form of a small treatise, the preface to which was dated 20th May 1809. The full title of this (so-called) "Tract" is "Concerning the Relations of Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal to each other, and to the common Enemy, at this crisis; and specifically as affected by the Convention of Cintra: the whole brought to the test of those Principles, by which alone the Independence and Freedom of Nations can be Preserved or Recovered."--ED.
COMPOSED AT THE SAME TIME AND ON THE SAME OCCASION
One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty."--ED.
I dropped my pen; and listened to the Wind That sang of trees up-torn and vessels tost-- A midnight harmony; and wholly lost To the general sense of men by chains confined Of business, care, or pleasure; or resigned 5 To timely sleep. Thought I, the impassioned strain, Which, without aid of numbers, I sustain, Like acceptation from the World will find. Yet some with apprehensive ear shall drink A dirge devoutly breathed o'er sorrows past; 10 And to the attendant promise will give heed-- The prophecy,--like that of this wild blast, Which, while it makes the heart with sadness shrink, Tells also of bright calms that shall succeed.
The poems belonging to the years 1809 and 1810 were mainly sonnets--although _The Excursion_ was being added to at intervals. Of twenty-four which were included by Wordsworth, in the final arrangement of his poems, among those "dedicated to National Independence and Liberty," fourteen belong to the year 1809, and ten to 1810. It is difficult to ascertain the principle which guided him in determining the succession of these sonnets. They were not placed in chronological order; nor is there any historical or topographical reason for their being arranged as they were. I have therefore felt at liberty to depart from his order, to the following extent.