daily dosage of inspiration

just have to share the ever amazing Mr. Wonderful Wordsworth. given 5-10 years ago, i would not have liked his poems and would be wondering what on earth was going on in between the woods and the whining stanzas. but some time has passed and now, whatever Mr. Wonderful says resonates with some nerve ending that has laid dormant in a dark crevice or fold of my grey matter.

at this age when reminiscing begins to hold such a sway over one's emotions even at the most random moments, when one gets a little too emo over just the sun setting by the side of an expressway during peak hour traffic, Mr.Wonderful is an excellent companion for my 20s going to 30s phase.

And it's not so strange that reading Mr. W.W to the other mister in the house, has led him to play elvis costello on the hifi, instead of what i think is truly pretentious late 70s-early 80s music. i truly wonder if the Wonderful Wordsworth were to live in this age, would he be inspired in a similar manner? i have also always wondered if he would ever think that his Tintern Abbey would match up to the way i feel about metal, glass, wood and steel-like feeling of modern skyscrappers. Or would he pity my poor unsentimental and soulless urbanish perspective...

so presenting the ever Wonderful Wordsworth.. for all those who wish to see a little of the extraordinary in the ordinary.

excerpt from "The Two Part Prelude"
... I was only then
Contented when with bliss ineffable
I felt the sentiment of being spread
O'er all that moves, and all that seemeth still,
O'er all that, lost beyond the reach of thought
And human knowledge, to the human eye
Invisible, yet liveth to the heart,
O'er all that leaps, and runs, and shouts, and sings,
Or beats the gladsome air, o'er all that glides
Beneath the wave, yea, in the wave itself
And mighty depth of waters. Wonder not
If such my transports were, for in all things
I saw one life, and felt that it was joy;
One song they sang and it was audible -
Most audible then when the fleshly ear,
O'ercome by grosser prelude of that strain,
Forgot its functions and slept undisturbed.

If this be error, and another faith
Find easier access to the pious mind,
Yet were I grossly destitute of all
Those human sentiments which make this earth
So dear if I should fail with grateful voice
To speak of you, ye mountains, and ye lakes
And sounding cataracts, ye mists and winds
That dwell among the hillls where I was born.
If in my youth I have been pure in heart,
If, mingling with the world, I am content
With my own modest pleasures, and have lived
With God and Nature communing, removed
From little enmities and low desires,
The gift is yours; if in these times of fear,
This melancholy waste of hopes o'erthrown,
If, mid indifference and apathy
And wicked exultation, when good men
On every side fall off we know not how
To selfishness, disguised in gentle names
Of peace and quiet and domestic love-
Yet mingled, not unwillingly, with sneers
On visionary minds - if, in this time
Of dereliction and dismay, I yet
Despair not of our nature, but retain
A more than Roman confidence, a faith
That fails not, in all sorrow my support,
The blessing of my life, the gift is yours
Ye mountains, thine O Nature. Thou hast fed
My lofty speculations, and in thee
For this uneasy heart of ours I find
A never-failing principle of joy
And purest passion.

Thou, my friend, wast reared
In the great city, mid far other scenes,
But we by different roads at length have gained
The self-same bourne. And from this cause to thee
I speak unapprehensive of contempt,
The insinuated scoff of coward tongues,
And all that silent language which so oft
In conversation betwixt man and man
Blots from the human contenance all trace
Of beauty and of love. For thou has sought
The truth in solitude, and thou art one
The most intense of Nature's worshippers,
In many things my brother, chiefly here
In this my deep devotion. Fare thee well:
Health and the quiet of a healthful mind
Attend thee, seeking oft the haunts of men -
But yet more often living with thyself,
And for thyself - so haply shall thy days
Be many, and a blessing to mankind.