William Wordsworth's "It is a beauteous evening, calm and free"

William Wordsworth wrote this acclaimed romantic poem around 1792. After grauating from Cambridge, Wordsworth took a walking tour around Europe. He visited Revolutionary France where he fell in love with Annette Vallon, who in 1792 gave birth to their child, Caroline. Lack of money plus the tensions of the Revolution necessitated a return to England. Wordsworth was in emotional torment during this period but inspired to write his acclaimed "It is a beauteous evening, calm and free."

Wordsworth continued to support Caroline, his daughter, throughout his life.

It is a beauteous evening, calm and free

IT is a beauteous evening, calm and free,
The holy time is quiet as a Nun
Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
Is sinking down in its tranquillity;
The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea:
Listen! the mighty Being is awake,
And doth with his eternal motion make
A sound like thunder--everlastingly.
Dear Child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here,
If thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year;
And worship'st at the Temple's inner shrine,
God being with thee when we know it not.

-- William Wordsworth 1792

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