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1770–1850

I griev'd for Buonaparte, with a vain...

William Wordsworth

I griev'd for Buonaparte, with a vain And an unthinking grief! the vital blood Of that Man's mind what can it be? What food Fed his first hopes? What knowledge could He gain?

‘ Tis not in battles that from youth we train The Governor who must be wise and good, And temper with the sternness of the brain Thoughts motherly, and meek as womanhood.

Wisdom doth live with children round her knees: Books, leisure, perfect freedom, and the talk Man holds with week-day man in the hourly walk Of the mind's business: these are the degrees

By which true Sway doth mount; this is the stalk True Power doth grow on; and her rights are these.

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I griev'd for Buonaparte, with a vain... · William Wordsworth · Poetry Cove