THE SAME SUBJECT

By William Wordsworth

The lovely Nun ( submissive, but more meek

Through saintly habit than from effort due

To unrelenting mandates that pursue

With equal wrath the steps of strong and weak )

Goes forth — unveiling timidly a cheek

Suffused with blushes of celestial hue,

While through the Convent'sgate to open view

Softly she glides, another home to seek.

Not Iris, issuing from her cloudy shrine,

An Apparition more divinely bright!

Not more attractive to the dazzled sight

Those watery glories, on the stormy brine

Poured forth, while summer suns at distance shine,

And the green vales lie hushed in sober light!