Remembrance of Grasmere

Felicia Hemans

O vale and lake, within your mountain urn
Smiling so tranquilly, and set so deep!
Oft doth your dreamy loveliness return,
Colouring the tender shadows of my sleep
With light Elysian ; for the hues that steep
Your shores in melting lustre seem to float
On golden clouds from spirit-lands remote,
Isles of the blest, and in our memory keep
Their place with holiest harmonies. Fair scene,
Most loved by evening and her dewy star!
O, ne'er may man, with touch unhallowed, jar
The perfect music of thy charm serene!
Still, still unchanged, may one sweet region wear
Smiles that subdue the soul to love and tears and prayer

The beautiful valley of Grasmere, with its village and lake of the same name has inspired many poets.

The most notable - and prolific - of Grasmere's poetic admirers was the great Romantic poet, William Wordsworth, who lived in Grasmere for 14 years.


Main Location:

Grasmere, Lake District, Cumbria, England - Grasmere, Cumbria, UK


Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0