The Duddon Sonnets - Notes to Sonnet XXXIV

XXXIV. AFTER-THOUGHT

          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              10

          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.

It is this poem which gets included in ‘Selected Poems’ from the major publishers. This is no surprise, it is a great sonnet. Moreover, as an ‘afterthought’ it does have synoptic quality which enables it to stand alone outside of the series.

The Duddon Valley - an aerial view.