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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker experiences a profound silence and calm in the city at dawn, as if the whole place is asleep.
In plain terms
The city is so quiet and calm that the houses seem to be sleeping.
What can you take from it?
Silence can bring a deep sense of peace even in a busy city.

Where it applies

  • early morning commute
  • sunset reflection
  • finding quiet spots

Putting it to work

  • seek quiet moments
  • appreciate dawn

Questions to consider

  • When did you last feel deep calm in a city?

Another view

City noise usually dominates, making such calm rare and fleeting.

More from William Wordsworth

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  2. Rapine, avarice, expense This is idolatry; and these we adore: Plain living and high thinking are no more: The homely beauty of the good old cause Is gone; our…

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  3. My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The…

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