Valedictory Sonnet To The River Duddon - Poem by William Wordsworth

I THOUGHT of Thee, my partner and my guide, 
   As being pass'd 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.