What though the radiancewhich was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass,of glory in the flower,
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.
William Wordsworth's 'Splendour in the Grass' is the poem we hear in the 1961movie by the same name. Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty starred and Wood wasnominated for an Academy Award for her role as Deanie, Beatty's girlfriend.The poem is from Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of EarlyChildhood, which begins with the majestic: There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, The earth, and every common sight, To me did seem Apparelled in celestial light, The glory and the freshness of a dream.The entire ode is well worth reading.
