The Sparrow's Nest

I started—seeming to espy The home and sheltered bed, The Sparrow’s dwelling, which, hard by My Father’s house, in wet or dry My sister Emmeline and I Together visited.

"The Sparrows Nest" is a lyric poem written by William Wordsworth at Town End, Grasmere, in 1801.

The poem is a moving tribute to Wordsworth's sister Dorothy, recalling their early childhood together in Cockermouth before they were separated following their mother's death in 1778 when he was barely eight years old.

The terrace-wall, a low one, was covered with closely-clipt privet and roses, which gave an almost impervious shelter to birds that built their nests there.

Others included "To a Butterfly", a childhood recollection of chasing butterflies with Dorothy, and "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", closely based on an entry in Dorothy's journal following a walk together and an example of the line "She gave me eyes, she gave me ears" in the poem.