Duddon Bridge

I cleaned and packed up. Had a brief chat with the neighbour and said goodbye to the cat, which was snoozing, and left Nicholson country behind. Before heading back through the lakes in a fairly constant blizzard as far as Ambleside, I went for a short walk along the last reaches of the river Duddon to gather some wild garlic for soup. There was a nice stretch of wild daffodils starting to show their faces.
It has to be WW …

Sonnets from The River Duddon: After-Thought - William Wordsworth 

I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide,
As being past away.—Vain sympathies!
For, backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes,
I see what was, and is, and will abide;
Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide;
The Form remains, the Function never dies;
While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise,
We Men, who in our morn of youth defied
The elements, must vanish;—be it so!
Enough, if something from our hands have power
To live, and act, and serve the future hour;
And if, as toward the silent tomb we go,
Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower,
We feel that we are greater than we know.