William Wordsworth: from Prelude, Book XIV

At the conclusion of "The Prelude", Wordsworth is found climbing Mount Snowdon, Wales' highest peak. He and his companion venture through the mist and fog on a "breezeless summer night", and each were "pensively" occupied with their individual thoughts. Upon reaching the summit, they encounter the moon "hung naked", and view the ocean. Wordsworth, upon seeing this view, finds in it's midst "the emblem of a mind / that feeds upon infinity, that broods / over the dark abyss", which Wordsworth understands to be imagination, "that glorious faculty / that higher minds bear with them as their own". This imagination, explains Wordsworth, transcends time and serves as its own fom of divinity, reflecting the power Nature held over Wordsworth and the influence it held over him and his work, and serves as the lens with which he views his life and comprehends its meaning. Without imagination, muses Wordsworth, spiritual and intellectual love cannot exist without Imagination, "for they are each in each, and cannot stand / Dividually". Wordsworth closes "The Prelude" in the hopes that his words may endure and encourages the reader as a "joint laborer[s] in the work".