Lake District 14lakes-dove-cottage_1860192b

THE LAKE DISTRICT. ENGLAND.                                 William Wordsworth’s  ‘Dove Cottage’

 

Many people believe they have to die to visit Heaven.
I have found my Heaven in many beautiful places. Recently I discovered the exquisite peace and solitude of ‘The Lake District’ in Cumbria, England. Idyllic mountains, lakes and valleys, charming villages of Keswick, Ambleside, Windermere, and my perfect little Edan, Grasmere.

This is William Wordsworth country, 1770-1850, one of the most endearingly popular English poets whose work celebrates the beauty of nature with eloquence and intensity, and who is read and loved all over the world. I had the unique pleasure of visiting ‘Dove Cottage’ in Grasmere, now restored, where he lived, and where much of his iconic poetry was written, and to visit his grave where he nestles in the shadow of the church in the peace and tranquility of this heavenly village that he loved so well.

As I strolled in his footsteps through the tapestry of this quaint, multi-colored landscape, I could understand how such a fertile mind as his could be inspired to create such lyrical magic, classic masterpieces that will endure forever.

This is the favorite with most people – it is mine too.

DAFFODILS
William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd
A host of dancing daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of the bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed-and gazed-but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

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