English poem
“Six Months To Six Years Added He Remained”
Published 1837
One of the “Epitaphs and Elegiac Pieces.”--ED.
Six months to six years added he remained Upon this sinful earth, by sin unstained: O blessed Lord! whose mercy then removed A Child whom every eye that looked on loved; Support us, teach us calmly to resign What we possessed, and now is wholly thine!
This refers to the poet’s son Thomas, who died December 1, 1812. He was buried in Grasmere churchyard, beside his sister Catherine; and Wordsworth placed these lines upon his tombstone. They may have been written much earlier than 1836, probably in 1813, but it is impossible to ascertain the date, and they were not published till 1837.--ED.
More by William Wordsworth
- “Said Red-Ribboned Evans”
- “Said Secrecy To Cowardice And Fraud”
- “See The Condemned Alone Within His Cell”
- “Shall He Who Gives His Days To Low Pursuits”
- “So Fair, So Sweet, Withal So Sensitive”
- “Sweet Was The Walk Along The Narrow Lane”
- “Tenderly Do We Feel By Nature’S Law”
- “The Crescent-Moon, The Star Of Love”