Poetry: a quotation from William Wordsworth about books

English poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was one of my mother's favorite poets. I dedicate this quotation from one of his poems, a quotation about books, to the memory of my mother Evelyn M. Gilmer (1923-2016) because she was an avid reader.

[ . . . ] books are yours,
Within whose silent chambers treasure lies
Preserved from age to age; more precious far
Than that accumulated store of gold
And orient gems which, for a day of need,
The Sultan hides deep in ancestral tombs.
These hoards of truth you can unlock at will.


Source: One Thousand Inspirational Things (1948), compiled by Audrey Stone Morris

William Wordsworth