It’s vacant, so in pensive mood
I ponder: could this post be mine?
T’would end the bliss of solitude,
And by applause my life define…
I wonder, lonely, as a crowd
Of other poets round me vies
To be appointed: quiet, loud;
Modest and proud; bold jesters, wise;
As brightly in the public eye
As daffodils that bloom may dance,
So poets laureate must try
To captivate the passing glance!
Still, if I’m not appointed, may
I here suggest (who could resist her?)
That Your Majesty would, pray,
Consider Dorothy - my sister?
(William Wordsworth)
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