| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
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| William Wordsworth. 1770–1850 |
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| 539. Mutability |
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| FROM low to high doth dissolution climb, | |
| And sink from high to low, along a scale | |
| Of awful notes, whose concord shall not fail; | |
| A musical but melancholy chime, | |
| Which they can hear who meddle not with crime, | 5 |
| Nor avarice, nor over-anxious care. | |
| Truth fails not; but her outward forms that bear | |
| The longest date do melt like frosty rime, | |
| That in the morning whiten'd hill and plain | |
| And is no more; drop like the tower sublime | 10 |
| Of yesterday, which royally did wear | |
| His crown of weeds, but could not even sustain | |
| Some casual shout that broke the silent air, | |
| Or the unimaginable touch of Time. | |
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