Untitled but generally referred to by its first line, "It Is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free" appears in a sequence of "Miscellaneous Sonnets" in Vol. I of William Wordsworth's Poems, in Two Volumes (1807). The sonnet's speaker appreciates the serene beauty of coastal sunset while on a walk with a "Dear Child" (usually read as the speaker's daughter). Though the girl doesn't seem particularly awestruck by the majestic scenery, the speaker reasons that this is because children feel the majestic presence of God (or nature) all the time. The poem was inspired by a seaside walk Wordsworth took with his daughter Caroline in Calais, France.
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1It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,
2The holy time is quiet as a Nun
3Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
4Is sinking down in its tranquility;
5The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea;
6Listen! the mighty Being is awake,
7And doth with his eternal motion make
8A sound like thunder—everlastingly.
9Dear child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here,
10If thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
11Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
12Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year;
13And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine,
14God being with thee when we know it not.
1It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,
2The holy time is quiet as a Nun
3Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
4Is sinking down in its tranquility;
5The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea;
6Listen! the mighty Being is awake,
7And doth with his eternal motion make
8A sound like thunder—everlastingly.
9Dear child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here,
10If thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
11Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
12Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year;
13And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine,
14God being with thee when we know it not.
It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,
The holy time is quiet as a Nun
Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
Is sinking down in its tranquility;
The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea;
Listen! the mighty Being is awake,
And doth with his eternal motion make
A sound like thunder—everlastingly.
Dear child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here,
If thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year;
And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine,
God being with thee when we know it not.
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
Wordsworth's Life and Work — Read a biography of the poet at the Poetry Foundation.
More on the Romantics — Check out the Poetry Foundation's "Introduction to British Romanticism," the movement with which Wordsworth is closely associated.
Poems, in Two Volumes (Vol. I) — Read the poem in its original context: the 1807 volume in which it was first published.
The Romantics and Nature — Watch a BBC documentary on the British Romantics (including Wordsworth) and their relationship to the natural world.
The Poem Aloud — Watch British actor Benedict Cumberbatch read "It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free."