quote · Legacy record
O for the coming of that glorious time When, prizing knowledge as her noblest wealth And best protection, this imperial realm, While she exacts allegiance, shall admit An obligation, on her part, to teach Them who are born to serve her and obey; Binding herself by statute to secure For all the children whom her soil maintains, The rudiments of letters, and inform The mind with moral and religious truth, Both understood and practised,—so that none, However destitute, be left to droop By culture unsustained; or run Into a wild disorder: or be forced To drudge through a weary life without the help Of intellectual implements and tools; A savage horde among the civilized, A servile band among the lordly free.
O for the coming of that glorious time When, prizing knowledge as her noblest wealth And best protection, this imperial realm, While she exacts allegiance, shall admit An obligation, on her part, to teach Them who are born to serve her and obey; Binding herself by statute to secure For all the children whom her soil maintains, The rudiments of letters, and inform The mind with moral and religious truth, Both understood and practised,—so that none, However destitute, be left to droop By culture unsustained; or run Into a wild disorder: or be forced To drudge through a weary life without the help Of intellectual implements and tools; A savage horde among the civilized, A servile band among the lordly free.
Approximate author period: c. 1810 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- William Wordsworth
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1810 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1770–1850)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 346 · printed citation: Wordsworth · subject: KNOWLEDGE
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.