Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley composed a sonnet about Wordsworth's seat at Rydal Mount. It's wonderful to sit on the rocky seat and imagine the poet composing poetry, chatting to friends and enjoying the views of the garden and Rydal.
Eight steps there are beneath a Poet's throne:
A lover's heart, a meditative will,
Ambitious perseverance, obstinate skill
That knows how painfully the jewel shone,
A prophet's sight, a soul's communion
With humblest wayside things by dale and hill,
An eye that tears on a sudden fill,
And lips that smile before the tears are gone,
But mounting up thy rocky poet's seat
With hesitation, as before a king's,
These other twain beneath thy throne I found:
Knowledge of peace that human goodness brings -
Of life most earnest, solemn, joyful, sweet;
I cried, thy throne is sure, great Bard, thy kingdom sound!
Eight steps there are beneath a Poet's throne:
A lover's heart, a meditative will,
Ambitious perseverance, obstinate skill
That knows how painfully the jewel shone,
A prophet's sight, a soul's communion
With humblest wayside things by dale and hill,
An eye that tears on a sudden fill,
And lips that smile before the tears are gone,
But mounting up thy rocky poet's seat
With hesitation, as before a king's,
These other twain beneath thy throne I found:
Knowledge of peace that human goodness brings -
Of life most earnest, solemn, joyful, sweet;
I cried, thy throne is sure, great Bard, thy kingdom sound!