s: The swans, that, when I sought the water-side,


s: From far to meet me came, spreading their snowy pride.


s: When the bees hummed, and chair by winter fire;


s: When market-morning came, the neat attire


s: With which, though bent on haste, myself I deck'd;


s: My watchful dog, whose starts of furious ire,


s: When stranger passed, so often I have check'd;


s: The red-breast known for years, which at my casement peck'd.


s: The suns of twenty summers danced along,--


s: Ah! little marked, how fast they rolled away:


s: Then rose a stately hall our woods among,


s: And cottage after cottage owned its sway.


s: No joy to see a neighbouring house, or stray


s: Through pastures not his own, the master took;


s: My Father dared his greedy wish gainsay;


s: And ill could I the thought of such sad parting brook.


s: But when he had refused the proffered gold,


s: Sore traversed in whate'er he bought and sold:


s: All, all was seized, and weeping, side by side,


s: We sought a home where we uninjured might abide.


s: When from the last hill-top, my sire surveyed,


s: Peering above the trees, the steeple tower


s: That on his marriage-day sweet music made?


s: Till then he hoped his bones might there be laid,


s: Close by my mother in their native bowers:


s: Bidding me trust in God, he stood and prayed,--


s: I could not pray:--through tears that fell in showers,


s: Glimmer'd our dear-loved home, alas! no longer ours!


s: There was a youth whom I had loved so long.


s: 'Mid the green mountains many and many a song


s: We two had sung, like gladsome birds in May.


s: We seemed still more and more to prize each other;


s: We talked of marriage and our marriage day;


s: And I in truth did love him like a brother,


s: For never could I hope to meet with such another.


s: He must repair, to ply the artist's trade.


s: What tears of bitter grief till then unknown?


s: What tender vows our last sad kiss delayed!


s: And her whom he had loved in joy, he said


s: He well could love in grief: his faith he kept;


s: And in a quiet home once more my father slept.


s: Four years each day with daily bread was blest,


s: By constant toil and constant prayer supplied.


s: Three lovely infants lay upon my breast;


s: And often, viewing their sweet smiles, I sighed,


s: When sad distress reduced the childrens' meal:


s: Thrice happy! that from him the grave did hide


s: The empty loom, cold hearth, and silent wheel,


s: And tears that flowed for ills which patience could not heal.


s: 'Twas a hard change, an evil time was come;


s: We had no hope, and no relief could gain.


s: But soon, with proud parade, the noisy drum


s: Beat round, to sweep the streets of want and pain.


s: My husband's arms now only served to strain


s: Me and his children hungering in his view:


s: In such dismay my prayers and tears were vain:


s: And now to the sea-coast, with numbers more, we drew.


s: There foul neglect for months and months we bore,


s: Nor yet the crowded fleet its anchor stirred.


s: Green fields before us and our native shore,


s: Ravage was made, for which no knell was heard.


s: Fondly we wished, and wished away, nor knew,


s: 'Mid that long sickness, and those hopes deferr'd,


s: That happier days we never more must view:


s: The parting signal streamed, at last the land withdrew.


s: But from delay the summer calms were past.


s: Ran mountains-high before the howling blast.


s: We gazed with terror on the gloomy sleep


s: Of them that perished in the whirlwind's sweep,


s: Untaught that soon such anguish must ensue,


s: Our hopes such harvest of affliction reap,


s: That we the mercy of the waves should rue.


s: We readied the western world, a poor, devoted crew.


s: In Want's most lonely cave till death to pine,


s: Or in the streets and walks where proud men are,


s: Than dog-like, wading at the heels of war,


s: Protract a curst existence, with the brood


s: That lap (their very nourishment!) their brother's blood.


s: The pains and plagues that on our heads came down;


s: It would thy brain unsettle even to hear.


s: All perished--all, in one remorseless year,


s: Husband and children! one by one, by sword


s: And ravenous plague, all perished: every tear


s: Dried up, despairing, desolate, on board


s: A British ship I waked, as from a trance restored.


s: By the first beams of dawning light impress'd;


s: In the calm sunshine slept the glittering main,


s: That comes not to the human mourner's breast.


s: Remote from man, and storms of mortal care,


s: A heavenly silence did the waves invest:


s: I looked and looked along the silent air,


s: Until it seemed to bring a joy to my despair.


s: Ah! how unlike those late terrific sleeps!


s: And groans, that rage of racking famine spoke:


s: The unburied dead that lay in festering heaps!


s: The breathing pestilence that rose like smoke!


s: The shriek that from the distant battle broke!


s: The mine's dire earthquake, and the pallid host


s: Driven by the bomb's incessant thunder-stroke


s: To loathsome vaults, where heart-sick anguish toss'd,


s: Hope died, and fear itself in agony was lost!


s: Yet does that burst of woe congeal my frame,


s: When the dark streets appeared to heave and gape,


s: While like a sea the storming army came,


s: And Fire from hell reared his gigantic shape,


s: And Murder, by the ghastly gleam, and Rape


s: Seized their joint prey, the mother and the child!


s: But from these crazing thoughts my brain, escape!


s: --For weeks the balmy air breathed soft and mild,


s: And on the gliding vessel Heaven and Ocean smiled.


s: I seemed transported to another world:--


s: A thought resigned with pain, when from the mast


s: The impatient mariner the sail unfurl'd,


s: And whistling, called the wind that hardly curled


s: The silent sea. From the sweet thoughts of home,


s: For me--farthest from earthly port to roam


s: Was best, could I but shun the spot where man might


s: And oft, robb'd of my perfect mind, I thought


s: At last my feet a resting-place had found:


s: Here will I weep in peace, (so fancy wrought,)


s: Here watch, of every human friend disowned,


s: All day, my ready tomb the ocean-flood--


s: To break my dream the vessel reached its bound:


s: And homeless near a thousand homes I stood,


s: And near a thousand tables pined, and wanted food.


s: Nor morsel to my mouth that day did lift,


s: I lay, where with his drowsy mates, the cock


s: From the cross timber of an out-house hung;


s: How dismal tolled, that night, the city clock!


s: At morn my sick heart hunger scarcely stung,


s: Nor to the beggar's language could I frame my tongue.


s: So passed another day, and so the third:


s: Then did I try, in vain, the crowd's resort,


s: In deep despair by frightful wishes stirr'd,


s: Near the sea-side I reached a ruined fort:


s: There, pains which nature could no more support,


s: With blindness linked, did on my vitals fall;


s: Of hideous sense; I sunk, nor step could crawl,


s: And thence was borne away to neighbouring hospital.


s: Recovery came with food: but still, my brain


s: I heard my neighbours, in their beds, complain


s: Of feet still bustling round with busy glee,


s: Of looks where common kindness had no part.


s: Fretting the fever round the languid heart,


s: And groans, which, as they said, would make a dead man start.


s: These things just served to stir the torpid sense,


s: Memory, though slow, returned with strength: and thence


s: At houses, men, and common light, amazed.


s: The lanes I sought, and as the sun retired,


s: The wild brood saw me weep, my fate enquired,


s: And gave me food, and rest, more welcome, more desired.


s: My heart is touched to think that men like these,


s: The rude earth's tenants, were my first relief:


s: How kindly did they paint their vagrant ease!


s: And their long holiday that feared not grief,


s: For all belonged to all, and each was chief.


s: No plough their sinews strained; on grating road


s: No wain they drove, and yet, the yellow sheaf


s: In every vale for their delight was stowed:


s: For them, in nature's meads, the milky udder flowed,


s: Semblance, with straw and panniered ass, they made


s: Of potters wandering on from door to door:


s: But life of happier sort to me pourtrayed,


s: The bag-pipe dinning on the midnight moor


s: In depth of forest glade, when jocund June


s: Rolled fast along the sky his warm and genial moon.


s: O'er moor and mountain, midnight theft to hatch;


s: To charm the surly house-dog's faithful bark,


s: The gloomy lantern, and the dim blue match,


s: The black disguise, the warning whistle shrill,


s: And ear still busy on its nightly watch,


s: Were not for me, brought up in nothing ill;


s: Besides, on griefs so fresh my thoughts were brooding still.


s: Poor Father! gone was every friend of thine:


s: Small help, and, after marriage such as mine,


s: With little kindness would to me incline.


s: With tears whose course no effort could confine,


s: Whole hours, my idle arms in moping sorrow knit.


s: On hazard, or what general bounty yields.


s: The fields I for my bed have often used:


s: But, what afflicts my peace with keenest ruth


s: Foregone the home delight of constant truth,


s: And clear and open soul, so prized in fearless youth.


s: Three years a wanderer, often have I view'd,


s: In tears, the sun towards that country tend


s: Where my poor heart lost all its fortitude:


s: And now across this moor my steps I bend--


s: Oh! tell me whither--for no earthly friend


s: Have I.--She ceased, and weeping turned away,


s: She wept;--because she had no more to say


s: Of that perpetual weight which on her spirit lay.


s: And this place our forefathers made for man!


s: This is the process of our love and wisdom


s: To each poor brother who offends against us--


s: Most innocent, perhaps--and what if guilty?


s: Each pore and natural outlet shrivell'd up


s: And stagnate and corrupt; till changed to poison,


s: They break out on him, like a loathsome plague spot.


s: Then we call in our pamper'd mountebanks--


s: And this is their best cure! uncomforted.


s: And friendless solitude, groaning and tears.


s: Seen through the steams and vapour of his dungeon,


s: By the lamp's dismal twilight! So he lies


s: Unmoulds its essence, hopelessly deformed


s: With other ministrations thou, O nature!'


s: Healest thy wandering and distempered child:


s: Thou pourest on him thy soft influences.


s: Thy sunny hues, fair forms, and breathing sheets,


s: Thy melodies of woods, and winds, and waters,


s: But, bursting into tears, wins back his way,


s: By the benignant touch of love and beauty.


s: With an incident in which he was concerned._


s: And then, what limbs those feats have left


s: And now he's forced to work, though weak,


s: And still there's something in the world


s: Such stores as silent thought can bring,


s: --I've heard of hearts unkind, kind deeds


s: In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts


s: Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,


s: Distinguishes the West, no long thin slip


s: Of sullen Light, no obscure trembling hues.


s: Come, we will rest on this old mossy Bridge!


s: You see the glimmer of the stream beneath,


s: But hear no murmuring: it flows silently


s: O'er its soft bed of verdure. All is still,


s: A balmy night! and tho' the stars be dim,


s: Yet let us think upon the vernal showers


s: That gladden the green earth, and we shall find


s: And hark! the Nightingale begins its song


s: --But some night wandering Man, whose heart was pierc'd


s: With the remembrance of a grievous wrong,


s: (And so, poor Wretch! fill'd all things with himself


s: And made all gentle sounds tell back the tale


s: First named these notes a melancholy strain:


s: Poet, who hath been building up the rhyme


s: Milton possesses an excellence far superior to that of mere


s: description: it is spoken in the character of the melancholy Man,


s: remark, to rescue himself from the charge of having alluded with


s: When he had better far have stretch'd his limbs


s: Of shapes and sounds and shifting elements


s: Surrendering his whole spirit, of his song


s: Should make all nature lovelier, and itself


s: Be lov'd, like nature!--But 'twill not be so;


s: Who lose the deep'ning twilights of the spring


s: In ball-rooms and hot theatres, they still


s: Full of meek sympathy must heave their sighs


s: My Friend, and my Friend's Sister! we have learnt


s: A different lore: we may not thus profane


s: Nature's sweet voices always full of love


s: That crowds, and hurries, and precipitates


s: With fast thick warble his delicious notes,


s: Would be too short for him to utter forth


s: Hi? love-chant, and disburthen his full soul


s: Which the great lord inhabits not: and so


s: This grove is wild with tangling underwood,


s: And the trim walks are broken up, and grass,


s: Thin grass and king-cups grow within the paths.


s: They answer and provoke each other's songs--


s: With skirmish and capricious passagings,


s: And one low piping sound more sweet than all--


s: That should you close your eyes, you might almost


s: To something more than nature in the grove)


s: Glides thro' the pathways; she knows all their notes,


s: That gentle Maid! and oft, a moment's space,


s: What time the moon was lost behind a cloud,


s: Hath heard a pause of silence: till the Moon


s: With one sensation, and those wakeful Birds


s: Have all burst forth in choral minstrelsy,


s: At if one quick and sudden Gale had swept


s: An hundred airy harps! And she hath watch'd


s: On blosmy twig still swinging from the breeze,


s: And to that motion tune his wanton song,


s: Like tipsy Joy that reels with tossing head.


s: Farewell, O Warbler! till to-morrow eve,


s: And you, my friends! farewell, a short farewell!


s: We have been loitering long and pleasantly,


s: And now for our dear homes.--That strain again!


s: Full fain it would delay me!-My dear Babe,


s: Mars all things with his imitative lisp,


s: How he would place his hand beside his ear,


s: His little hand, the small forefinger up,


s: To make him Nature's playmate. He knows well


s: The evening star: and once when he awoke


s: In most distressful mood (some inward pain


s: Had made up that strange thing, an infant's dream)


s: And he beholds the moon, and hush'd at once


s: Suspends his sobs, and laughs most silently,


s: While his fair eyes that swam with undropt tears


s: Did glitter in the yellow moon-beam!  Well--


s: It is a father's tale. But if that Heaven


s: Should give me life, his childhood shall grow up


s: Familiar with these songs, that with the night


s: He may associate Joy! Once more farewell,


s: Sweet Nightingale! once more, my friends! farewell.


s: Written when sailing in a Boat At EVENING._


s: And still, perhaps, with faithless gleam,


s: Though grief and pain may come to-morrow?


s: 'Tis eight o'clock,--a clear March night,


s: There's scarce a soul that's out of bed;


s: Burr, burr--now Johnny's lips they burr,


s: And Johnny's lips they burr, burr, burr,


s: By this time she's not quite so flurried;


s: So, through the moonlight lane she goes,


s: In great and small, in round and square,


s: She's past the bridge that's in the dale,


s: --The clock strikes three--a dismal knell!


s: This piteous news so much it shock'd her,


s: The streams with softest sound are flowing,


s: In five months' time, should he be seen,


s: These fourteen years, by strong indentures:


s: For sure he met with strange adventures.


s: Which thunders down with headlong force,


s: You've done your best, and that is all."


s: On all sides doubts and terrors met her;


s: I'll to the wood."--The word scarce said,


s: She spies her friends, she shouts a greeting;


s: While our four travellers homeward wend;


s: For while they all were travelling home,


s: Where all this long night you have been,


s: What you have heard, what you have seen,


s: Which craz'd this bold and lovely Knight,


s: --Where art thou gone my own dear child?


s: Now laugh and be gay, to the woods away!


s: Sea-bird; and how he was followed by many and strange Judgements;


s: "By thy long grey beard and thy glittering eye


s: "Now get thee hence, thou grey-beard Loon


s: The Ship was cheer'd, the Harbour clear'd--


s: It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd and howl'd--


s: Whiles all the night thro' fog-smoke white


s: From the fiends that plague thee thus--"


s: "Why look'st thou so?--with my cross bow


s: And the good south wind still blew behind,


s: 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay


s: Down dropt the breeze, the Sails dropt down,


s: With throat unslack'd, with black lips bak'd


s: And strait the Sun was fleck'd with bars


s: Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)


s: Are those _her_ Sails that glance in the Sun


s: Are those _her_ Ribs, thro' which the Sun


s: _His_ bones were black with many a crack,


s: Jet-black and bare, save where with rust


s: They were patch'd with purple and green.


s: _Her_ lips were red, _her_ looks were free,


s: Thro' the holes of his eyes and the hole of his mouth


s: Each turn'd his face with a ghastly pang


s: Their souls did from their bodies fly,--


s: "Fear not, fear not, thou wedding guest!


s: For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky


s: Seven days, seven nights I saw that curse,


s: And the rain pour'd down from one black cloud


s: The thick black cloud was cleft, and still


s: They groan'd; they stirr'd, they all uprose,


s: They rais'd their limbs like lifeless tools--


s: 'Twas not those souls, that fled in pain,


s: "For when it dawn'd--they dropp'd their arms,


s: Sweet sounds rose slowly thro' their mouths


s: "Is it he?" quoth one, "Is this the man?


s: "Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high,


s: 'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high;


s: The pang, the curse, with which they died,


s: The rock shone bright, the kirk no less:


s: And the bay was white with silent light,


s: The Skiff-boat ner'd: I heard them talk,


s: "Strange, by my faith!" the Hermit said--


s: The planks look warp'd, and see those sails


s: Stunn'd by that loud and dreadful sound,


s: Like one that hath been seven days drown'd


s: Laugh'd loud and long, and all the while


s: Forthwith this frame of mind was wrench'd


s: He went, like one that hath been stunn'd


s: Five years have passed; five summers, with the length


s: These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs


s: With a sweet inland murmur. --Once again


s: Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,


s: Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect


s: The landscape with the quiet of the sky.


s: Here, under this dark sycamore, and view


s: These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,


s: Which, at this season, with their unripe fruits,


s: Among the woods and copses lose themselves,


s: Nor, with their green and simple hue, disturb


s: The wild green landscape. Once again I see


s: These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines


s: Of sportive wood run wild; these pastoral farms


s: Green to the very door; and wreathes of smoke


s: Sent up, in silence, from among the trees,


s: With some uncertain notice, as might seem,


s: Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,


s: Or of some hermit's cave, where by his fire


s: These forms of beauty have not been to me,


s: But oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the din


s: Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,


s: Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart,


s: With tranquil restoration:--feelings too


s: Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,


s: On that best portion of a good man's life;


s: Of kindness and of love. Nor less, I trust,


s: Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,


s: Is lighten'd:--that serene and blessed mood;


s: In which the affections gently lead us on,


s: Until, the breath of this corporeal frame,


s: While with an eye made quiet by the power


s: Of joyless day-light; when the fretful stir


s: Unprofitable, and the fever of the world,


s: Have hung upon the beatings of my heart,


s: How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee


s: O sylvan Wye! Thou wanderer through the woods,


s: And now, with gleams, of half-extinguish'd thought,


s: While here I stand, not only with the sense


s: Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts


s: That in this moment there is life and food


s: Though changed, no doubt, from what I was, when first


s: I came among these hills; when like a roe


s: I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides


s: Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,


s: Flying from something that he dreads, than one


s: Who sought the thing he loved. For nature then


s: (The coarser pleasures of my boyish days,


s: And their glad animal movements all gone by,)


s: Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,


s: The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,


s: Their colours and their forms, were then to me


s: Unborrowed from the eye.--That time is past,


s: And all its aching joys are now no more,


s: And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this


s: Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur: other gifts


s: Have followed, for such loss, I would believe


s: Of thoughtless youth, but hearing oftentimes


s: Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power


s: A presence that disturbs me with the joy


s: Of something far more deeply interfused,


s: Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,


s: And the round ocean, and the living air,


s: And the blue sky, and in the mind of man,


s: All thinking things, all objects of all thought,


s: And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still


s: And mountains; and of all that we behold


s: From this green earth; of all the mighty world


s: Of eye and ear; both what they half create,


s: And what perceive; well pleased to recognize


s: In nature and the language of the sense,


s: The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,


s: The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul


s: line of Young, the exact expression of which I cannot recollect.]


s: If I were not thus taught, should I the more


s: For thou art with me, here, upon the banks


s: Of this fair river; thou, my dearest Friend,


s: My dear, dear Friend, and in thy voice I catch


s: The language of my former heart, and read


s: My former pleasures in the shooting lights


s: Of thy wild eyes. Oh! yet a little while


s: My dear, dear Sister! And this prayer I make,


s: The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege,


s: Through all the years of this our life, to lead


s: With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,


s: Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,


s: Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all


s: Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb


s: Our chearful faith that all which we behold


s: Is full of blessings. Therefore let the moon


s: And let the misty mountain winds be free


s: To blow against thee: and in after years,


s: When these wild ecstasies shall be matured


s: Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms,


s: For all sweet sounds and harmonies; Oh! then,


s: If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief,


s: Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts


s: And these my exhortations! Nor perchance,


s: If I should be, where I no more can hear


s: Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams


s: Of past existence, wilt thou then forget


s: That on the banks of this delightful stream


s: With warmer love, oh! with far deeper zeal


s: Of holier love. Nor wilt thou then forget,


s: Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs,


s: And this green pastoral landscape, were to me


s: More dear, both for themselves, and for thy sake.


s: NOTE to THE THORN--This Poem ought to have been preceded by an


s: notion of it, if he has ever known a man, a Captain of a small


s: reasonable share of imagination, by which word I mean the faculty


s: surprize are excited by sudden varieties of situation and by


s: It was my wish in this poem to shew the manner in which such men


s: picture which should not be unimpressive yet consistent with the


s: Upon this occasion I will request permission to add a few words


s: closely connected with THE THORN and many other Poems in these


s: Reader cannot be too often reminded that Poetry is passion: it is


s: unsatisfied the Speaker will cling to the same words, or words of


s: repetition and apparent tautology are frequently beauties of the


s: "Awake, awake Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song:"


s: NOTE to the ANCIENT MARINER, p. 155.--I cannot refuse myself the


s: gratification of informing such Readers as may have been pleased


s: stanzas present beautiful images, and are expressed with unusual


s: felicity of language; and the versification, though the metre is


s: itself unfit for long poems, is harmonious and artfully varied,


s: exhibiting the utmost powers of that metre, and every variety of


s: Strange fits of passion I have known, &c.


s: 'Tis said that some have died for love, &c.


s: Inscription for the Spot where the Hermitage stood


s: The two Thieves, or the last stage of Avarice


s: Lines written with a Slate-Pencil upon a Stone, &c.


s: Three years she grew in sun and shower, &c.


s: Written in Germany on one of the coldest days of the century


s: Hart-Leap Well is a small spring of water, about five miles from


s: Richmond in Yorkshire, and near the side of the road which leads


s: The Knight had ridden down from Wensley moor


s: With the slow motion of a summer's cloud;


s: He turn'd aside towards a Vassal's door,


s: And, "Bring another Horse!" he cried aloud.


s: "Another Horse!"--That shout the Vassal heard,


s: And saddled his best steed, a comely Grey;


s: Sir Walter mounted him; he was the third


s: Which he had mounted on that glorious day.


s: Joy sparkeled in the prancing Courser's eyes;


s: The horse and horsemen are a happy pair;


s: But, though Sir Walter like a falcon flies,


s: A rout this morning left Sir Walter's Hall,


s: That as they gallop'd made the echoes roar;


s: But horse and man are vanish'd, one and all;


s: Such race, I think, was never seen before.


s: Calls to the few tired dogs that yet remain:


s: Brach, Swift and Music, noblest of their kind,


s: Follow, and weary up the mountain strain.


s: The Knight halloo'd, he chid and cheer'd them on


s: With suppliant gestures and upbraidings stern;


s: But breath and eye-sight fail, and, one by one,


s: The dogs are stretch'd among the mountain fern.


s: Where is the throng, the tumult of the chace?


s: --This race it looks not like an earthly race;


s: The poor Hart toils along the mountain side;


s: I will not stop to tell how far he fled,


s: Nor will I mention by what death he died;


s: But now the Knight beholds him lying dead.


s: Dismounting then, he lean'd against a thorn;


s: He had no follower, dog, nor man, nor boy:


s: He neither smack'd his whip, nor blew his horn,


s: But gaz'd upon the spoil with silent joy.


s: Close to the thorn on which Sir Walter lean'd,


s: Weak as a lamb the hour that it is yean'd,


s: Upon his side the Hart was lying stretch'd:


s: His nose half-touch'd a spring beneath a hill,


s: And with the last deep groan his breath had fetch'd


s: The waters of the spring were trembling still.


s: Sir Walter walk'd all round, north, south and west,


s: And gaz'd, and gaz'd upon that darling place.


s: And turning up the hill, it was at least


s: Nine roods of sheer ascent, Sir Walter found


s: Three several marks which with his hoofs the beast


s: Had left imprinted on the verdant ground.


s: Sir Walter wiped his face, and cried, "Till now


s: Such sight was never seen by living eyes:


s: Three leaps have borne him from this lofty brow,


s: Down to the very fountain where he lies."


s: I'll build a Pleasure-house upon this spot,


s: Twill be the traveller's shed, the pilgrim's cot,


s: A place of love for damsels that are coy.


s: And they, who do make mention of the same,


s: From this day forth, shall call it Hart-leap Well.


s: And, gallant brute! to make thy praises known,


s: Three several pillars, each a rough hewn stone,


s: And planted where thy hoofs the turf have graz'd.


s: And in the summer-time when days are long,


s: And with the dancers, and the minstrel's song,


s: We will make merry in that pleasant bower.


s: Till the foundations of the mountains fail


s: My mansion with its arbour shall endure,


s: --The joy of them who till the fields of Swale,


s: And them who dwell among the woods of Ure.


s: Then home he went, and left the Hart, stone-dead,


s: With breathless nostrils stretch'd above the spring.


s: And soon the Knight perform'd what he had said,


s: The fame whereof through many a land did ring.


s: Ere thrice the moon into her port had steer'd,


s: A cup of stone receiv'd the living well;


s: Three pillars of rude stone Sir Walter rear'd,


s: And built a house of pleasure in the dell.


s: And near the fountain, flowers of stature tall


s: With trailing plants and trees were intertwin'd,


s: Which soon composed a little sylvan hall,


s: And thither, when the summer days were long,


s: And with the dancers and the minstrel's song


s: Made merriment within that pleasant bower.


s: The Knight, Sir Walter, died in course of time,


s: And his bones lie in his paternal vale.--


s: To pipe a simple song to thinking hearts,


s: It chanc'd that I saw standing in a dell


s: Three aspins at three corners of a square,


s: And one, not four yards distant, near a well.


s: And, pulling now the rein my horse to stop,


s: The last stone pillar on a dark hill-top.


s: The trees were grey, with neither arms nor head;


s: Half-wasted the square mound of tawny green;


s: So that you just might say, as then I said,


s: "Here in old time the hand of man has been."


s: I look'd upon the hills both far and near;


s: More doleful place did never eye survey;


s: It seem'd as if the spring-time came not here,


s: I stood in various thoughts and fancies lost,


s: When one who was in Shepherd's garb attir'd,


s: And what this place might be I then inquir'd.


s: The Shepherd stopp'd, and that same story told


s: Which in my former rhyme I have rehears'd.


s: "A jolly place," said he, "in times of old,


s: But something ails it now; the spot is curs'd."


s: You see these lifeless stumps of aspin wood,


s: Some say that they are beeches, others elms,


s: These were the Bower; and here a Mansion stood,


s: You see the stones, the fountain, and the stream,


s: But as to the great Lodge, you might as well


s: There's neither dog nor heifer, horse nor sheep,


s: Will wet his lips within that cup of stone;


s: And, oftentimes, when all are fast asleep,


s: This water doth send forth a dolorous groan.


s: Some say that here a murder has been done,


s: And blood cries out for blood: but, for my part,


s: I've guess'd, when I've been sitting in the sun,


s: What thoughts must through the creature's brain have pass'd!


s: To this place from the stone upon the steep


s: Are but three bounds, and look, Sir, at this last!


s: For thirteen hours he ran a desperate race;


s: What cause the Hart might have to love this place,


s: And come and make his death-bed near the well.


s: Here on the grass perhaps asleep he sank,


s: Lull'd by this fountain in the summer-tide;


s: This water was perhaps the first he drank


s: When he had wander'd from his mother's side.


s: He heard the birds their morning carols sing,


s: And he, perhaps, for aught we know, was born


s: Not half a furlong from that self-same spring.


s: But now here's neither grass nor pleasant shade;


s: Till trees, and stones, and fountain all are gone.


s: Grey-headed Shepherd, thou hast spoken well;


s: Small difference lies between thy creed and mine;


s: This beast not unobserv'd by Nature fell,


s: His death was mourn'd by sympathy divine.


s: The Being, that is in the clouds and air,


s: That is in the green leaves among the groves.


s: For them the quiet creatures whom he loves.


s: The Pleasure-house is dust:--behind, before,


s: This, is no common waste, no common gloom;


s: But Nature, in due course of time, once more


s: Shall here put on her beauty and her bloom.


s: She leaves these objects to a slow decay


s: That what we are, and have been, may be known;


s: One lesson, Shepherd, let us two divide,


s: Taught both by what she shews, and what conceals,


s: Never to blend our pleasure or our pride


s: With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels.


s: There was a Boy, ye knew him well, ye Cliffs


s: At evening, when the stars had just begun


s: Rising or setting, would he stand alone,


s: Beneath the trees, or by the glimmering lake,


s: And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands


s: Press'd closely palm to palm and to his mouth


s: That they might answer him. And they would shout


s: Responsive to his call, with quivering peals,


s: And long halloos, and screams, and echoes loud


s: Of mirth and jocund din. And, when it chanced


s: That pauses of deep silence mock'd his skill,


s: Then, sometimes, in that silence, while he hung


s: Listening, a gentle shock of mild surprize


s: Has carried far into his heart the voice


s: Of mountain torrents, or the visible scene


s: Its woods, and that uncertain heaven, receiv'd


s: Fair are the woods, and beauteous is the spot,


s: The vale where he was born: the Church-yard hangs


s: And there along that bank when I have pass'd


s: At evening, I believe, that near his grave


s: Mute--for he died when he was ten years old.


s: These Tourists, Heaven preserve us! needs must live


s: Rapid and gay, as if the earth were air.


s: And they were butterflies to wheel about


s: Long as their summer lasted; some, as wise,


s: Sit perch'd with book and pencil on their knee,


s: And look and scribble, scribble on and look,


s: Until a man might travel twelve stout miles,


s: Or reap an acre of his neighbour's corn.


s: Why can he tarry _yonder_?--In our church-yard


s: Tomb-stone nor name, only the turf we tread.


s: And a few natural graves. To Jane, his Wife,


s: Thus spake the homely Priest of Ennerdale.


s: Upon the long stone seat beneath the eaves


s: Of his old cottage, as it chanced that day,


s: Employ'd in winter's work. Upon the stone


s: His Wife sate near him, teasing matted wool,


s: While, from the twin cards tooth'd with glittering wire,


s: He fed the spindle of his youngest child,


s: Who turn'd her large round wheel in the open air


s: With back and forward steps. Towards the field


s: Girt round with a bare ring of mossy wall,


s: While half an hour went by, the Priest had sent


s: Many a long look of wonder, and at last,


s: Risen from his seat, beside the snowy ridge


s: Of carded wool--which the old Man had piled


s: He laid his implements with gentle care,


s: Each in the other lock'd; and, down the path


s: Which from his cottage to the church-yard led,


s: The Stranger, whom he saw still lingering there.


s: 'Twas one well known to him in former days,


s: A Shepherd-lad: who ere his thirteenth year


s: Had chang'd his calling, with the mariners


s: Through twenty seasons; but he had been rear'd


s: Among the mountains, and he in his heart


s: Oft in the piping shrouds had Leonard heard


s: The tones of waterfalls, and inland sounds


s: Of caves and trees; and when the regular wind


s: Between the tropics fill'd the steady sail


s: And blew with the same breath through days and weeks,


s: Along the cloudless main, he, in those hours


s: Over the vessel's aide, and gaze and gaze,


s: And, while the broad green wave and sparkling foam


s: Flash'd round him images and hues, that wrought


s: In union with the employment of his heart,


s: Saw mountains, saw the forms of sheep that graz'd


s: On verdant hills, with dwellings among trees,


s: And Shepherds clad in the same country grey


s: From perils manifold, with some small wealth


s: Acquir'd by traffic in the Indian Isles,


s: The life which he liv'd there, both for the sake


s: In all his hardships, since that happy time


s: When, whether it blew foul or fair, they two


s: Were brother Shepherds on their native hills.


s: --They were the last of all their race; and now,


s: When Leonard had approach'd his home, his heart


s: Fail'd in him, and, not venturing to inquire


s: Towards the church-yard he had turn'd aside,


s: That, as he knew in what particular spot


s: His family were laid, he thence might learn


s: If still his Brother liv'd, or to the file


s: Another grave, near which a full half hour


s: He had remain'd, but, as he gaz'd, there grew


s: That he began to doubt, and he had hopes


s: That he had seen this heap of turf before,


s: Through fields which once had been well known to him.


s: Sent to his heart! he lifted up his eyes,


s: And looking round he thought that he perceiv'd


s: Strange alteration wrought on every side


s: Among the woods and fields, and that the rocks,


s: And the eternal hills, themselves were chang'd.


s: By this the Priest who down the field had come


s: Unseen by Leonard, at the church-yard gate


s: Stopp'd short, and thence, at leisure, limb by limb


s: Aye, thought the Vicar, smiling to himself;


s: 'Tis one of those who needs must leave the path


s: Of the world's business, to go wild alone:


s: The happy man will creep about the fields


s: Following his fancies by the hour, to bring


s: Tears down his check, or solitary smiles


s: Write Fool upon his forehead. Planted thus


s: Of this rude church-yard, till the stars appear'd


s: The good man might have commun'd with himself


s: But that the Stranger, who had left the grave,


s: Approach'd; he recogniz'd the Priest at once,


s: And after greetings interchang'd, and given


s: You live, Sir, in these dales, a quiet life:


s: And who would grieve and fret, if, welcome come


s: And welcome gone, they are so like each other,


s: They cannot be remember'd. Scarce a funeral


s: Comes to this church-yard once, in eighteen months;


s: And yet, some changes must take place among you.


s: And you, who dwell here, even among these rocks


s: And see, that with our threescore years and ten


s: We are not all that perish.--I remember,


s: There was a foot-way all along the fields


s: By the brook-side--'tis gone--and that dark cleft!


s: Aye, there indeed, your memory is a friend


s: That does not play you false.--On that tall pike,


s: (It is the loneliest place of all these hills)


s: There were two Springs which bubbled side by side,


s: As if they had been made that they might be


s: Companions for each other: ten years back,


s: Close to those brother fountains, the huge crag


s: Was rent with lightning--one is dead and gone,


s: The other, left behind, is flowing still.--


s: For accidents and changes such as these,


s: Why we have store of them! a water-spout


s: Will bring down half a mountain; what a feast


s: For folks that wander up and down like you,


s: To see an acre's breadth of that wide cliff


s: And in one night send twenty score of sheep


s: The ice breaks up and sweeps away a bridge--


s: A wood is fell'd:--and then for our own homes!


s: A child is born or christen'd, a field plough'd,


s: The old house cloth is deck'd with a new face;


s: And hence, so far from wanting facts or dates


s: For the whole dale, and one for each fire-side,


s: Your's was a stranger's judgment: for historians


s: Seems, if such freedom may be used with you,


s: To say that you are heedless of the past.


s: Here's neither head nor foot-stone, plate of brass,


s: Cross-bones or skull, type of our earthly state


s: Or emblem of our hopes: the dead man's home


s: Why there, Sir, is a thought that's new to me.


s: The Stone-cutters, 'tis true, might beg their bread


s: If every English church-yard were like ours:


s: Yet your conclusion wanders from the truth.


s: We talk about the dead by our fire-sides.


s: And then for our immortal part, _we_ want


s: No symbols, Sir, to tell us that plain tale:


s: The thought of death sits easy on the man


s: Who has been born and dies among the mountains:


s: Your dalesmen, then, do in each other's thoughts


s: With what I've witness'd; and with what I've heard,


s: Perhaps I might, and, on a winter's evening,


s: By turning o'er these hillocks one by one,


s: We two could travel, Sir, through a strange round,


s: Yet all in the broad high-way of the world.


s: Now there's a grave--your foot is half upon it,


s: It looks just like the rest, and yet that man


s: Beneath yon ridge, the last of those three graves;--


s: He had as white a head and fresh a cheek


s: Engendering in the blood of hale fourscore.


s: Of Walter's forefathers o'erflow'd the bounds


s: Of their inheritance, that single cottage,


s: You see it yonder, and those few green fields.


s: They toil'd and wrought, and still, from sire to son,


s: Each struggled, and each yielded as before


s: They left to him the family heart, and land


s: With other burthens than the crop it bore.


s: Year after year the old man still preserv'd


s: A chearful mind, and buffeted with bond,


s: Interest and mortgages; at last he sank,


s: And went into his grave before his time.


s: Poor Walter! whether it was care that spurr'd him


s: With his two Grandsons after him--but you,


s: Unless our Landlord be your host to-night,


s: Have far to travel, and in these rough paths


s: Yet not while Walter liv'd--for, though their Parents


s: Lay buried side by side as now they lie,


s: Shed, when he talk'd of them where they were not,


s: And hauntings from the infirmity of love,


s: Are aught of what makes up a mother's heart,


s: Was half a mother to them.--If you weep, Sir,


s: To hear a stranger talking about strangers,


s: Heaven bless you when you are among your kindred!


s: Aye. You may turn that way--it is a grave


s: They were such darlings of each other. For


s: Though from their cradles they had liv'd with Walter,


s: The only kinsman near them in the house,


s: Yet he being old, they had much love to spare,


s: And it all went into each other's hearts.


s: Leonard, the elder by just eighteen months,


s: Was two years taller: 'twas a joy to see,


s: To hear, to meet them! from their house the School


s: Was distant three short miles, and in the time


s: Of storm and thaw, when every water-course


s: And unbridg'd stream, such as you may have notic'd


s: Crossing our roads at every hundred steps,


s: Would Leonard then, when elder boys perhaps


s: Remain'd at home, go staggering through the fords


s: Bearing his Brother on his back.--I've seen him,


s: On windy days, in one of those stray brooks,


s: Aye, more than once I've seen him mid-leg deep,


s: Their two books lying both on a dry stone


s: As I remember, looking round these rocks


s: And hills on which we all of us were born,


s: That God who made the great book of the world


s: Never did worthier lads break English bread:


s: With all its mealy clusters of ripe nuts,


s: Could never keep these boys away from church,


s: Or tempt them to an hour of sabbath breach.


s: Leonard and James! I warrant, every corner


s: Among these rocks and every hollow place


s: Where foot could come, to one or both of them


s: Was known as well as to the flowers that grew there.


s: Like roe-bucks they went bounding o'er the hills:


s: They play'd like two young ravens on the crags:


s: Then they could write, aye and speak too, as well


s: As many of their betters--and for Leonard!


s: It seems, these Brothers have not liv'd to be


s: Live to that end, is what both old and young


s: In this our valley all of us have wish'd,


s: And what, for my part, I have often pray'd:


s: 'Tis of the elder Brother I am speaking:


s: A thriving man, and traffick'd on the seas:


s: And, but for this same Uncle, to this hour


s: Leonard had never handled rope or shroud.


s: For the Boy lov'd the life which we lead here;


s: And, though a very Stripling, twelve years old;


s: His soul was knit to this his native soil.


s: To strive with such a torrent; when he died,


s: The estate and house were sold, and all their sheep,


s: A pretty flock, and which, for aught I know,


s: Had clothed the Ewbauks for a thousand years.


s: Well--all was gone, and they were destitute.


s: And Leonard, chiefly for his brother's sake,


s: Resolv'd to try his fortune on the seas.


s: 'Tis now twelve years since we had tidings from him.


s: That Leonard Ewbank was come home again,


s: From the great Gavel , down by Leeza's Banks,


s: And those two bells of ours, which there you see


s: Hanging in the open air--but, O good Sir!


s: This is sad talk--they'll never sound for him


s: Living or dead--When last we heard of him


s: Upon the Barbary Coast--'Twas not a little


s: That would bring down his spirit, and, no doubt,


s: Was sadly cross'd--Poor Leonard! when we parted,


s: He would return, and on his Father's Land


s: resemblance to the Gable end of a house, is one of the highest of


s: The Leeza is a River which follows into the Lake of Ennerdale: on


s: Should come, 'twould needs be a glad day for him;


s: He would himself, no doubt, be as happy then


s: You said his kindred all were in their graves,


s: A fellow tale of sorrow.  From his youth


s: James, though not sickly, yet was delicate,


s: That, though he was not of a timid nature,


s: In him was somewhat check'd, and when his Brother


s: Stolen from his cheek, he droop'd, and pin'd and pin'd;


s: But these are all the graves of full grown men!


s: Aye, Sir, that pass'd away: we took him to us.


s: He was the child of all the dale--he liv'd


s: Three months with one, and six months with another:


s: And wanted neither food, nor clothes, nor love,


s: But, whether blithe or sad, 'tis my belief


s: His absent Brother still was at his heart.


s: And, when he liv'd beneath our roof, we found


s: (A practice till this time unknown to him)


s: That often, rising from his bed at night,


s: He in his sleep would walk about, and sleeping


s: He sought his Brother Leonard--You are mov'd!


s: It will be twelve years since, when Spring returns,


s: He had gone forth among the new-dropp'd lambs,


s: With two or three companions whom it chanc'd


s: Some further business summon'd to a house


s: Which stands at the Dale-head. James, tir'd perhaps,


s: Or from some other cause remain'd behind.


s: Like some vast building made of many crags,


s: Whence by our Shepherds it is call'd, the Pillar.


s: James, pointing to its summit, over which


s: They all had purpos'd to return together,


s: Inform'd them that he there would wait for them:


s: They parted, and his comrades pass'd that way


s: Some two hours after, but they did not find him


s: Of which they took no heed: but one of them,


s: Going by chance, at night, into the house


s: Which at this time was James's home, there learn'd


s: The morning came, and still, he was unheard of:


s: The neighbours were alarm'd, and to the Brook


s: Some went, and some towards the Lake; ere noon


s: They found him at the foot of that same Rock


s: Dead, and with mangled limbs. The third day after


s: I buried him, poor Lad, and there he lies.


s: And that then _is_ his grave!--Before his death


s: If he had one, the Lad had twenty homes.


s: And you believe then, that his mind was easy--


s: Yes, long before he died, he found that time


s: His thoughts were turn'd on Leonard's luckless fortune,


s: He talk'd about him with a chearful love.


s: Nay, God forbid! You recollect I mention'd


s: Had brought upon him, and we all conjectur'd


s: That, as the day was warm, he had lain down


s: Upon the grass, and, waiting for his comrades


s: He there had fallen asleep, that in his sleep


s: Had walk'd, and from the summit had fallen head-long,


s: And so no doubt he perish'd: at the time,


s: We guess, that in his hands he must have had


s: His Shepherd's staff; for midway in the cliff


s: It had been caught, and there for many years


s: The Stranger would have thank'd him, but he felt


s: Tears rushing in; both left the spot in silence,


s: And Leonard, when they reach'd the church-yard gate,


s: As the Priest lifted up the latch, turn'd round,


s: And, looking at the grave, he said, "My Brother."


s: The Vicar did not hear the words: and now,


s: Pointing towards the Cottage, he entreated


s: That Leonard would partake his homely fare:


s: The other thank'd him with a fervent voice,


s: But added, that, the evening being calm,


s: He would pursue his journey. So they parted.


s: It was not long ere Leonard reach'd a grove


s: That overhung the road: he there stopp'd short,


s: And, sitting down beneath the trees, review'd


s: All that the Priest had said: his early years


s: Were with him in his heart: his cherish'd hopes,


s: And thoughts which had been his an hour before.


s: All press'd on him with such a weight, that now,


s: This vale, where he had been so happy, seem'd


s: A place in which he could not bear to live:


s: He travell'd on to Egremont; and thence,


s: That night, address'd a letter to the Priest


s: Reminding him of what had pass'd between them.


s: That it was from the weakness of his heart,


s: He had not dared to tell him, who he was.


s: This done, he went on shipboard, and is now


s: What fond and wayward thoughts will slide


s: What pleasure thro' my veins you spread!


s: I shelter'd you with leaves and flowers;


s: But now proud thoughts are in your breast--


s: The stream came thundering down the dell


s: One winter's night when through the Trees


s: Breath'd gently from the warm South-west;


s: "Eight weary weeks, thro' rock and clay,


s: The Frost hath wrought both night and day,


s: And yet, just three years back--no more--


s: Her voice was blithe, her heart was light;


s: Then downward from the steep hill's edge


s: They leapt, they ran, and when they came


s: "Till you have cross'd where I shall cross,


s: His pulse is stopp'd, his breath is lost,


s: The Lamb, still swimming round and round


s: Said they, "He's neither maim'd nor scarr'd"--


s: 'Tis said, that some have died for love:


s: And here and there a church-yard grave is found


s: Because the wretched man himself had slain,


s: And there is one whom I five years have known;


s: Three years had Barbara in her grave been laid


s: Oh! move thou Cottage from behind that oak


s: The clouds pass on; they from the Heavens depart:


s: But when I cease to look, my hand is on my heart.


s: O! what a weight is in these shades! Ye leaves,


s: When will that dying murmur be suppress'd?


s: Thou Thrush, that singest loud and loud and free,


s: Or sing another song, or chuse another tree


s: Roll back, sweet rill! back to thy mountain bounds,


s: And there for ever be thy waters chain'd!


s: If still beneath that pine-tree's ragged bough


s: Be any thing, sweet rill, but that which thou art now.


s: Thou Eglantine whose arch so proudly towers


s: (Even like a rainbow spanning half the vale)


s: Thou one fair shrub, oh! shed thy flowers,


s: For thus to see thee nodding in the air,


s: Disturbs me, till the sight is more than I can bear.


s: The man who makes this feverish complaint


s: Is one of giant stature, who could dance


s: Equipp'd from head to foot in iron mail.


s: Ah gentle Love! if ever thought was thine


s: To store up kindred hours for me, thy face


s: Turn from me, gentle Love, nor let me walk


s: Within the sound of Emma's voice, or know


s: At the corner of Wood-Street, when day-light appears,


s: There's a Thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years:


s: Poor Susan has pass'd by the spot and has heard


s: In the silence of morning the song of the bird.


s: 'Tis a note of enchantment; what ails her? She sees


s: A mountain ascending, a vision of trees;


s: Bright volumes of vapour through Lothbury glide,


s: And a river flows on through the vale of Cheapside.


s: Green pastures she views in the midst of the dale,


s: Down which she so often has tripp'd with her pail,


s: And a single small cottage, a nest like a Jove's,


s: The only one dwelling on earth that she loves.


s: She looks, and her heart is in Heaven, but they fade,


s: The mist and the river, the hill and the shade;


s: The stream will not flow, and the hill will not rise,


s: And the colours have all pass'd away from her eyes.


s: Poor Outcast! return--to receive thee once more


s: The house of thy Father will open its door,


s: And thou once again, in thy plain russet gown,


s: May'st hear the thrush sing from a tree of its own.


s: _For the Spot where the_ HERMITAGE _stood


s: on St. Herbert's Island, Derwent-Water_.


s: If thou in the dear love of some one friend


s: Hast been so happy, that thou know'st what thoughts


s: Will, sometimes, in the happiness of love


s: Make the heart sink, then wilt thou reverence


s: This quiet spot.--St. Herbert hither came


s: And here, for many seasons, from the world


s: Remov'd, and the affections of the world


s: A Fellow-labourer, whom the good Man lov'd


s: As his own soul; and when within his cave


s: While o'er the lake the cataract of Lodore


s: Peal'd to his orisons, and when he pac'd


s: Along the beach of this small isle and thought


s: Of his Companion, he had pray'd that both


s: Might die in the same moment. Nor in vain


s: So pray'd he:--as our Chronicles report,


s: Though here the Hermit number'd his last days,


s: Far from St. Cuthbert his beloved friend,


s: Those holy men both died in the same hour.


s: Rude is this Edifice, and Thou hast seen


s: Buildings, albeit rude, that have maintain'd


s: Proportions more harmonious, and approach'd


s: Do take it in good part; for he, the poor


s: From the great city; never on the leaves


s: Snug Cot, with Coach-house, Shed and Hermitage.


s: The heifer comes in the snow-storm, and here


s: The new-dropp'd lamb finds shelter from the wind.


s: His pinnace, a small vagrant barge, up-piled


s: With plenteous store of heath and wither'd fern,


s: Among the mountains, and beneath this roof


s: He makes his summer couch, and here at noon


s: Spreads out his limbs, while, yet unborn, the sheep


s: Panting beneath the burthen of their wool


s: Lie round him, even as if they were a part


s: Of his own household: nor, while from his bed


s: He through that door-place looks toward the lake


s: And to the stirring breezes, does he want


s: Fair sights, and visions of romantic joy.


s: --These died in peace each with the other,


s: Through the long day to swear and tipple;


s: Will all be train'd to waste and pillage;


s: Oh now that the genius of Bewick were mine


s: And the skill which He learn'd on the Banks of the Tyne;


s: When the Muses might deal with me just as they chose


s: For I'd take my last leave both of verse and of prose.


s: What feats would I work with my magical hand!


s: Book-learning and books should be banish'd the land


s: And for hunger and thirst and such troublesome calls


s: Every ale-house should then have a feast on its walls.


s: The Traveller would hang his wet clothes on a chair


s: Let them smoke, let them burn, not a straw would he care.


s: For the Prodigal Son, Joseph's Dream and his Sheaves,


s: Oh what would they be to my tale of two Thieves!


s: Little Dan is unbreech'd, he is three birth-days old,


s: His Grandsire that age more than thirty times told,


s: There's ninety good seasons of fair and foul weather


s: Between them, and both go a stealing together.


s: With chips is the Carpenter strewing his floor?


s: It a cart-load of peats at an old Woman's door?


s: Old Daniel his hand to the treasure will slide,


s: And his Grandson's as busy at work by his side.


s: Old Daniel begins, he stops short and his eye


s: Through the lost look of dotage is cunning and sly.


s: 'Tis a look which at this time is hardly his own,


s: But tells a plain tale of the days that are flown.


s: Dan once had a heart which was mov'd by the wires


s: And what if he cherish'd his purse? 'Twas no more


s: Than treading a path trod by thousands before.


s: 'Twas a path trod by thousands, but Daniel is one


s: Who went something farther than others have gone;


s: And now with old Daniel you see how it fares


s: You see to what end he has brought his grey hairs.


s: The pair sally forth hand in hand; ere the sun


s: Has peer'd o'er the beeches their work is begun:


s: And yet into whatever sin they may fall,


s: This Child but half knows it and that not at all.


s: They hunt through the street with deliberate tread,


s: And each in his turn is both leader and led;


s: And wherever they carry their plots and their wiles,


s: Every face in the village is dimpled with smiles.


s: Neither check'd by the rich nor the needy they roam,


s: For grey-headed Dan has a daughter at home;


s: Who will gladly repair all the damage that's done,


s: And three, were it ask'd, would be render'd for one.


s: Old Man! whom so oft I with pity have ey'd,


s: I love thee and love the sweet boy at thy side:


s: Long yet may'st thou live, for a teacher we see


s: That lifts up the veil of our nature in thee.


s: Rush'd o'er the wood with startling sound:


s: And showers of hail-stones patter'd round.


s: There's not a breeze--no breath of air--


s: And all those leaves, that jump and spring,


s: Though the torrents from their fountains


s: There came a Youth from Georgia's shore,


s: Who quit their fold with dance and shout


s: which are scattered with such profusion over the Hills in the


s: And stately, needs must have their share


s: "God help thee Ruth!"--Such pains she had


s: That shap'd her sorrow, rocks and pools,


s: The vernal leaves, she loved them still,


s: Written with a Slate-pencil upon a Stone, the largest of a heap


s: lying near a deserted Quarry, upon one of the Islands at Rydale_.


s: Stranger! this hillock of mishapen stones


s: Nor, as perchance thou rashly deem'st, the Cairn


s: Of some old British Chief: 'tis nothing more


s: Or pleasure-house, which was to have been built


s: Among the birch-trees of this rocky isle.


s: But, as it chanc'd, Sir William having learn'd


s: That from the shore a full-grown man might wade,


s: At any hour he chose, the Knight forthwith


s: The block on which these lines are trac'd, perhaps,


s: Of the intended pile, which would have been


s: Some quaint odd play-thing of elaborate skill,


s: So that, I guess, the linnet and the thrush,


s: And other little builders who dwell here,


s: Had wonder'd at the work. But blame him not,


s: Bred in this vale to which he appertain'd


s: With all his ancestry. Then peace to him


s: And for the outrage which he had devis'd


s: Entire forgiveness.--But if thou art one


s: An Inmate of these mountains, if disturb'd


s: By beautiful conceptions, thou hast hewn


s: Of thy trim mansion destin'd soon to blaze


s: In snow-white splendour, think again, and taught


s: By old Sir William and his quarry, leave


s: Thy fragments to the bramble and the rose,


s: There let the vernal slow-worm sun himself,


s: And let the red-breast hop from stone to stone.


s: Schoolmasters there since the foundation of the School, with the


s: --When through this little wreck of fame,


s: The sighs which Matthew heav'd were sighs


s: Were tears of light, the oil of gladness.


s: --Thou soul of God's best earthly mould,


s: And Matthew stopp'd, he look'd, and said,


s: And, coming to the church, stopp'd short


s: Let loose their carols when they please,


s: One of those heavenly days which cannot die,


s: When forth I sallied from our cottage-door,


s: And with a wallet o'er my shoulder slung,


s: A nutting crook in hand, I turn'd my steps


s: Towards the distant woods, a Figure quaint,


s: Trick'd out in proud disguise of Beggar's weeds


s: At thorns, and brakes, and brambles, and, in truth,


s: More ragged than need was. Among the woods,


s: And o'er the pathless rocks, I forc'd my way


s: Until, at length, I came to one dear nook


s: Droop'd with its wither'd leaves, ungracious sign


s: Tall and erect, with milk-white clusters hung,


s: A virgin scene!--A little while I stood,


s: Breathing with such suppression of the heart


s: As joy delights in; and with wise restraint


s: The banquet, or beneath the trees I sate


s: Among the flowers, and with the flowers I play'd;


s: A temper known to those, who, after long


s: And weary expectation, have been bless'd


s: With sudden happiness beyond all hope.--


s: --Perhaps it was a bower beneath whose leaves


s: And with my cheek on one of those green stones


s: That, fleec'd with moss, beneath the shady trees,


s: Lay round me scatter'd like a flock of sheep,


s: I heard the murmur and the murmuring sound,


s: In that sweet mood when pleasure loves to pay


s: The heart luxuriates with indifferent things,


s: Wasting its kindliness on stocks and stones,


s: And dragg'd to earth both branch and bough, with crash


s: And merciless ravage; and the shady nook


s: Of hazels, and the green and mossy bower


s: Confound my present feelings with the past,


s: Even then, when, from the bower I turn'd away,


s: Exulting, rich beyond the wealth of kings


s: The silent trees and the intruding sky.--


s: Then, dearest Maiden! move along these shades


s: Touch,--for there is a Spirit in the woods.


s: In earth and heaven, in glade and bower,


s: The floating clouds their state shall lend


s: Where rivulets dance their wayward round,


s: The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink;


s: I heard a voice, it said, Drink, pretty Creature, drink!


s: And, looking o'er the hedge, before me I espied;


s: A snow-white mountain Lamb with a Maiden at its side.


s: No other sheep were near, the Lamb was all alone,


s: And by a slender cord was tether'd to a stone;


s: With one knee on the grass did the little Maiden kneel,


s: While to that Mountain Lamb she gave its evening meal.


s: The Lamb while from her hand he thus his supper took


s: That I almost receiv'd her heart into my own.


s: 'Twas little Barbara Lewthwaite, a Child of beauty rare;


s: I watch'd them with delight, they were a lovely pair.


s: And now with empty Can the Maiden turn'd away,


s: But ere ten yards were gone her footsteps did she stay.


s: Towards the Lamb she look'd, and from that shady place


s: I unobserv'd could see the workings of her face:


s: If Nature to her tongue could measur'd numbers bring


s: Thus, thought I, to her Lamb that little Maid would sing.


s: What ails thee, Young One? What? Why pull so at thy cord?


s: Is it not well with thee? Well both for bed and board?


s: Thy plot of grass is soft, and green as grass can be.


s: Rest little Young One, rest; what is't that aileth thee?


s: What is it thou would'st seek? What is wanting to thy heart?


s: Thy limbs are they not strong? And beautiful thou art:


s: This grass is tender grass, these flowers they have no peer,


s: And that green corn all day is rustling in thy ears.


s: If the Sun is shining hot, do but stretch thy woollen chain,


s: This beech is standing by, its covert thou can'st gain,


s: For rain and mountain storms the like thou need'st not fear,


s: The rain and storm are things which scarcely can come here.


s: Rest, little Young One, rest; thou hast forgot the day


s: When my Father found thee first in places far away:


s: Many flocks are on the hills, but thou wert own'd by none,


s: And thy Mother from thy side for evermore was gone.


s: He took thee in his arms, and in pity brought thee home,


s: A blessed day for thee! then whither would'st thou roam?


s: A faithful nurse thou hast, the dam that did thee yean


s: Upon the mountain tops no kinder could have been.


s: Thou know'st that twice a day I have brought thee in this Can


s: Fresh water from the brook as clear as ever ran;


s: And twice in the day when the ground is wet with dew


s: I bring thee draughts of milk, warm milk it is and new.


s: Thy limbs will shortly be twice as stout as they are now,


s: Then I'll yoke thee to my cart like a pony in the plough,


s: My playmate thou shalt be, and when the wind is cold


s: Our hearth shall be thy bed, our house shall be thy fold.


s: It will not, will not rest!--poor Creature can it be


s: That 'tis thy Mother's heart which is working so in thee?


s: Things that I know not of belike to thee are dear,


s: And dreams of things which thou can'st neither see nor hear.


s: Alas, the mountain tops that look so green and fair!


s: I've heard of fearful winds and darkness that come there,


s: The little brooks, that seem all pastime and all play,


s: When they are angry, roar like lions for their prey.


s: Here thou needst not dread the raven in the sky,


s: He will not come to thee, our Cottage is hard by,


s: Night and day thou art safe as living thing can be,


s: Be happy then and rest, what is't that aileth thee?


s: As homeward through the lane I went with lazy feet,


s: This song to myself did I oftentimes repeat,


s: And it seem'd as I retrac'd the ballad line by line


s: That but half of it was hers, and one half of it was mine.


s: Again, and once again did I repeat the song,


s: "Nay" said I, "more than half to the Damsel must belong,


s: For she look'd with such a look, and she spake with such a tone,


s: That I almost receiv'd her heart into my own."


s: On one of the coldest days of the Century_.


s: _I must apprize the Reader that the stoves in North Germany


s: A fig for your languages, German and Norse,


s: And the tongs and the poker, instead of that horse


s: That gallops away with such fury and force


s: On this dreary dull plate of black metal.


s: Our earth is no doubt made of excellent stuff,


s: The weather in Forty was cutting and rough,


s: And then, as Heaven knows, the glass stood low enough,


s: Here's a Fly, a disconsolate creature, perhaps


s: And sorrow for him! this dull treacherous heat


s: Has seduc'd the poor fool from his winter retreat,


s: He cannot find out in what track he must crawl


s: Now back to the tiles, and now back to the hall,


s: Stock-still there he stands like a traveller bemaz'd,


s: His feelers methinks I can see him put forth


s: But he finds neither guide-post nor guide.


s: See! his spindles sink under him, foot, leg and thigh,


s: Between life and death his blood freezes and thaws,


s: And his two pretty pinions of blue dusky gauze


s: No Brother, no Friend has he near him, while I


s: Can draw warmth from the cheek of my Love,


s: As blest and as glad in this desolate gloom,


s: As if green summer grass were the floor of my room,


s: Yet, God is my witness, thou small helpless Thing,


s: Till summer comes up from the South, and with crowds


s: Of thy brethren a march thou should'st sound through the clouds,


s: Up, Timothy, up with your Staff and away!


s: Not a soul in the village this morning will stay;


s: The Hare has just started from Hamilton's grounds,


s: And Skiddaw is glad with the cry of the hounds.


s: --Of coats and of jackets both grey, scarlet, and green,


s: On the slopes of the pastures all colours were seen,


s: With their comely blue aprons and caps white as snow,


s: The girls on the hills made a holiday show.


s: The bason of box-wood,  just six months before,


s: Had stood on the table at Timothy's door,


s: A Coffin through Timothy's threshold had pass'd,


s: One Child did it bear and that Child was his last.


s: Box-wood, and throws it into the grave of the deceased.]


s: Now fast up the dell came the noise and the fray,


s: The horse and the horn, and the hark! hark! away!


s: Old Timothy took up his Staff, and he shut


s: With a leisurely motion the door of his hut.


s: Perhaps to himself at that moment he said,


s: "The key I must take, for my Ellen is dead"


s: But of this in my ears not a word did he speak,


s: And he went to the chase with a tear on his cheek.


s: The class of Beggars to which the old man here described belongs,


s: Built at the foot of a huge hill, that they


s: Who lead their horses down the steep rough road


s: May thence remount at ease. The aged man


s: Had placed his staff across the broad smooth stone


s: All white with flour the dole of village dames,


s: He drew his scraps and fragments, one by one,


s: And scann'd them with a fix'd and serious look


s: Upon the second step of that small pile,


s: Surrounded by those wild unpeopled hills,


s: And ever, scatter'd from his palsied hand,


s: That still attempting to prevent the waste,


s: Was baffled still, the crumbs in little showers


s: Fell on the ground, and the small mountain birds,


s: Not venturing yet to peck their destin'd meal,


s: Approached within the length of half his staff.


s: Him from my childhood have I known, and then


s: The sauntering horseman-traveller does not throw


s: With careless hand his alms upon the ground,


s: But stops, that he may safely lodge the coin


s: Within the old Man's hat; nor quits him so,


s: But still when he has given his horse the rein


s: Sidelong and half-reverted. She who tends


s: The toll-gate, when in summer at her door


s: She turns her wheel, if on the road she sees


s: And lifts the latch for him that he may pass.


s: The Post-boy when his rattling wheels o'ertake


s: Shouts to him from behind, and, if perchance


s: The old Man does not change his course, the Boy


s: Turns with less noisy wheels to the road-side,


s: His eyes are turn'd, and, as he moves along,


s: _They_ move along the ground; and evermore;


s: Of fields with rural works, of hill and dale,


s: And the blue sky, one little span of earth


s: Is all his prospect. Thus, from day to day,


s: Bowbent, his eyes for ever on the ground,


s: He plies his weary journey, seeing still,


s: And never knowing that he sees, some straw,


s: Some scatter'd leaf, or marks which, in one track,


s: The nails of cart or chariot wheel have left


s: Impress'd on the white road, in the same line,


s: At distance still the same. Poor Traveller!


s: His staff trails with him, scarcely do his feet


s: In look and motion that the cottage curs,


s: Ere he have pass'd the door, will turn away


s: Weary of barking at him. Boys and girls,


s: The vacant and the busy, maids and youths,


s: And urchins newly breech'd all pass him by:


s: Him even the slow-paced waggon leaves behind.


s: But deem not this man useless.--Statesmen! ye


s: Who have a broom still ready in your hands


s: To rid the world of nuisances; ye proud,


s: Heart-swoln, while in your pride ye contemplate


s: Your talents, power, and wisdom, deem him not


s: A burthen of the earth. Tis Nature's law


s: That none, the meanest of created things,


s: Of forms created the most vile and brute,


s: The dullest or most noxious, should exist


s: Divorced from good, a spirit and pulse of good,


s: Inseparably link'd. While thus he creeps


s: The kindly mood in hearts which lapse of years,


s: And that half-wisdom, half-experience gives


s: Make slow to feel, and by sure steps resign


s: To selfishness and cold oblivious cares.


s: Where'er the aged Beggar takes his rounds,


s: To acts of love; and habit does the work


s: Which reason cherishes. And thus the soul,


s: By that sweet taste of pleasure unpursu'd


s: To virtue and true goodness. Some there are,


s: By their good works exalted, lofty minds


s: Will live, and spread, and kindle; minds like these,


s: This helpless wanderer, have perchance receiv'd,


s: (A thing more precious far than all that books


s: That first mild touch of sympathy and thought,


s: In which they found their kindred with a world


s: Where want and sorrow were. The easy man


s: Who sits at his own door, and like the pear


s: Which overhangs his head from the green wall,


s: Feeds in the sunshine; the robust and young,


s: The prosperous and unthinking, they who live


s: Shelter'd, and flourish in a little grove


s: His charters and exemptions; and perchance,


s: His present blessings, and to husband up


s: The respite of the season, he, at least,


s: And 'tis no vulgar service, makes them felt.


s: Yet further.--Many, I believe, there are


s: Establish'd in the land where they abide


s: Are strict observers, and not negligent,


s: Or act of love to those with whom they dwell,


s: Their kindred, and the children of their blood.


s: Praise be to such, and to their slumbers peace!


s: --But of the poor man ask, the abject poor,


s: In this cold abstinence from evil deeds,


s: No--man is dear to man: the poorest poor


s: When they can know and feel that they have been


s: Themselves the fathers and the dealers out


s: Of some small blessings, have been kind to such


s: As needed kindness, for this single cause,


s: --Such pleasure is to one kind Being known


s: My Neighbour, when with punctual care, each week


s: Duly as Friday comes, though press'd herself


s: By her own wants, she from her chest of meal


s: Takes one unsparing handful for the scrip


s: Of this old Mendicant, and, from her door


s: Sits by her tire and builds her hope in heav'n.


s: Then let him pass, a blessing on his head!


s: And while, in that vast solitude to which


s: The tide of things has led him, he appears


s: To breathe and live but for himself alone,


s: The good which the benignant law of heaven


s: Has hung around him, and, while life is his,


s: Still let him prompt the unletter'd Villagers


s: And, long as he can wander, let him breathe


s: The freshness of the vallies, let his blood


s: Struggle with frosty air and winter snows,


s: And let the charter'd wind that sweeps the heath


s: Beat his grey locks against his wither'd face.


s: Reverence the hope whose vital anxiousness


s: Gives the last human interest to his heart.


s: Make him a captive; for that pent-up din,


s: Those life-consuming sounds that clog the air,


s: And have around him, whether heard or nor,


s: Few are his pleasures; if his eyes, which now


s: Have been so long familiar with the earth,


s: Rising or setting, let the light at least


s: Find a free entrance to their languid orbs.


s: And let him, _where_ and _when_ he will, sit down


s: Beneath the trees, or by the grassy bank


s: Of high-way side, and with the little birds


s: Share his chance-gather'd meal, and, finally,


s: There's George Fisher, Charles Fleming, and Reginald Shore,


s: Three rosy-cheek'd School-boys, the highest not more


s: To the top of Great How did it please them to climb,


s: and there they built up without mortar or lime


s: They built him of stones gather'd up as they lay,


s: They built him and christen'd him all in one day,


s: And so without scruple they call'd him Ralph Jones.


s: Now Ralph is renown'd for the length of his bones;


s: Just half a week after the Wind sallied forth,


s: And, in anger or merriment, out of the North


s: From the peak of the crag blew the Giant away.


s: And what did these School-boys?--The very next day


s: --Some little I've seen of blind boisterous works


s: In Paris and London, 'mong Christians or Turks,


s: At remembrance whereof my blood sometimes will flag.


s: --Then, light-hearted Boys, to the top of the Crag!


s: Led, Heaven knows how! to this poor sod:


s: One to whose smooth-rubb'd soul can cling


s: Shut close the door! press down the latch:


s: That broods and sleeps on his own heart.


s: I marvel how Nature could ever find space


s: For the weight and the levity seen in his face:


s: There's thought and no thought, and there's paleness and bloom,


s: And bustle and sluggishness, pleasure and gloom.


s: There's weakness, and strength both redundant and vain;


s: Such strength, as if ever affliction and pain


s: Could pierce through a temper that's soft to disease,


s: Would be rational peace--a philosopher's ease.


s: There's indifference, alike when he fails and succeeds,


s: And attention full ten times as much as there needs,


s: Pride where there's no envy, there's so much of joy;


s: And mildness, and spirit both forward and coy.


s: There's freedom, and sometimes a diffident stare


s: Of shame scarcely seeming to know that she's there.


s: There's virtue, the title it surely may claim,


s: Yet wants, heaven knows what, to be worthy the name.


s: What a picture! 'tis drawn without nature or art,


s: --Yet the Man would at once run away with your heart,


s: And I for five centuries right gladly would be


s: Such an odd, such a kind happy creature as he.


s: By Persons resident in the country and attached to rural objects,


s: It was an April Morning: fresh and clear


s: The Rivulet, delighting in its strength,


s: Ran with a young man's speed, and yet the voice


s: And hopes and wishes, from all living things


s: Went circling, like a multitude of sounds.


s: The budding groves appear'd as if in haste


s: To spur the steps of June; as if their shades


s: Of various green were hindrances that stood


s: Between them and their object: yet, meanwhile,


s: There was such deep contentment in the air


s: Yet leafless, seem'd as though the countenance


s: With which it look'd on this delightful day


s: Were native to the summer.--Up the brook


s: In this continuous glen, where down a rock


s: The stream, so ardent in its course before,


s: Sent forth such sallies of glad sound, that all


s: Which I till then had heard, appear'd the voice


s: Of common pleasure: beast and bird, the lamb,


s: The Shepherd's dog, the linnet and the thrush


s: Vied with this waterfall, and made a song


s: Which, while I listen'd, seem'd like the wild growth


s: That could not cease to be. Green leaves were here,


s: But 'twas the foliage of the rocks, the birch,


s: The yew, the holly, and the bright green thorn,


s: With hanging islands of resplendent furze:


s: A single mountain Cottage might be seen.


s: I gaz'd and gaz'd, and to myself I said,


s: "Our thoughts at least are ours; and this wild nook,


s: --Soon did the spot become my other home,


s: And, of the Shepherds who have seen me there,


s: Have told this fancy, two or three, perhaps,


s: Years after we are gone and in our graves,


s: When they have cause to speak of this wild place,


s: Your time of early youth, and there you learn'd,


s: The living Beings by your own fire-side,


s: With such a strong devotion, that your heart


s: Who look upon the hills with tenderness,


s: And make dear friendships with the streams and groves.


s: Yet we who are transgressors in this kind,


s: Among the woods and fields, we love you well,


s: Joanna! and I guess, since you have been


s: So distant from us now for two long years,


s: That you will gladly listen to discourse


s: However trivial, if you thence are taught


s: That they, with whom you once were happy, talk


s: While I was seated, now some ten days past,


s: Their ancient neighbour, the old Steeple tower,


s: Came forth to greet me, and when he had ask'd,


s: "How fares Joanna, that wild-hearted Maid!


s: And when will she return to us?" he paus'd,


s: And after short exchange of village news,


s: He with grave looks demanded, for what cause,


s: --Now, by those dear immunities of heart


s: Engender'd betwixt malice and true love,


s: --'Twas that delightful season, when the broom,


s: Full flower'd, and visible on every steep,


s: Along the copses runs in veins of gold."


s: And when we came in front of that tall rock


s: Which looks towards the East, I there stopp'd short,


s: And trac'd the lofty barrier with my eye


s: From base to summit; such delight I found


s: To note in shrub and tree, in stone and flower,


s: Of their own beauty, imag'd in the heart.


s: --When I had gaz'd perhaps two minutes' space,


s: That ravishment of mine, and laugh'd aloud.


s: The rock, like something starting from a sleep,


s: Took up the Lady's voice, and laugh'd again:


s: And the tall Steep of Silver-How sent forth


s: A noise of laughter; southern Loughrigg heard,


s: And Fairfield answer'd with a mountain tone:


s: Carried the Lady's voice,--old Skiddaw blew


s: His speaking trumpet;--back out of the clouds


s: And Kirkstone toss'd it from his misty head.


s: Now whether, (said I to our cordial Friend


s: Smil'd in my face) this were in simple truth


s: Of ancient mountains, or my ear was touch'd


s: That there was a loud uproar in the hills.


s: And, while we both were listening, to my side


s: To shelter from some object of her fear.


s: --And hence, long afterwards, when eighteen moons


s: Beneath this rock, at sun-rise, on a calm


s: And silent morning, I sate down, and there,


s: I chissel'd out in those rude characters


s: And I, and all who dwell by my fire-side


s: Have call'd the lovely rock, Joanna's Rock.


s: In Cumberland and Westmoreland are several Inscriptions upon the


s: The Roths, mentioned in this poem, is the River which flowing


s: There is an Eminence,--of these our hills


s: The last that parleys with the setting sun.


s: Along the public way, this Cliff, so high


s: Its own deep quiet to restore our hearts.


s: The meteors make of it a favorite haunt:


s: The star of Jove, so beautiful and large


s: In the mid heav'ns, is never half so fair


s: As when he shines above it. 'Tis in truth


s: The loneliest place we have among the clouds.


s: And She who dwells with me, whom I have lov'd


s: With such communion, that no place on earth


s: Hath said, this lonesome Peak shall bear my Name.


s: A narrow girdle of rough stones and crags,


s: Of copse and thicket, leaves the eastern shore


s: And there, myself and two beloved Friends,


s: One calm September morning, ere the mist


s: Saunter'd on this retir'd and difficult way.


s: --Ill suits the road with one in haste, but we


s: Play'd with our time; and, as we stroll'd along,


s: Such objects as the waves had toss'd ashore,


s: Feather, or leaf, or weed, or wither'd bough,


s: Of the dry wreck. And in our vacant mood,


s: Not seldom did we stop to watch some tuft


s: Which, seeming lifeless half, and half impell'd


s: Close to the surface of the lake that lay


s: Along the dead calm lake, now here, now there,


s: In all its sportive wanderings all the while


s: That was its wings, its chariot, and its horse,


s: Alike indulg'd to all, we paus'd, one now,


s: And now the other, to point out, perchance


s: To pluck, some flower or water-weed, too fair


s: Fair ferns and flowers, and chiefly that tall plant


s: On Grasmere's beach, than Naid by the side


s: Sole-sitting by the shores of old Romance.


s: --So fared we that sweet morning: from the fields


s: Meanwhile, a noise was heard, the busy mirth


s: Delighted much to listen to those sounds,


s: And in the fashion which I have describ'd,


s: Along the indented shore; when suddenly,


s: Through a thin veil of glittering haze, we saw


s: Attir'd in peasant's garb, who stood alone


s: That way we turn'd our steps: nor was it long,


s: Which then we saw, with one and the same voice


s: We all cried out, that he must be indeed


s: Of the mid harvest, when the labourer's hire


s: Is ample, and some little might be stor'd


s: Wherewith to chear him in the winter time.


s: Thus talking of that Peasant we approach'd


s: Close to the spot where with his rod and line


s: He stood alone; whereat he turn'd his head


s: By sickness, gaunt and lean, with sunken cheeks


s: And wasted limbs, his legs so long and lean


s: That for my single self I look'd at them,


s: Too weak to labour in the harvest field,


s: The man was using his best skill to gain


s: That knew not of his wants. I will not say


s: What thoughts immediately were ours, nor how


s: What need there is to be reserv'd in speech,


s: And temper all our thoughts with charity.


s: --Therefore, unwilling to forget that day,


s: My Friend, Myself, and She who then receiv'd


s: The same admonishment, have call'd the plate


s: And, POINT RASH-JUDGMENT is the Name it bears.


s: Our walk was far among the ancient trees:


s: There was no road, nor any wood-man's path,


s: But the thick umbrage, checking the wild growth


s: A track which brought us to a slip of lawn,


s: All round this pool both flocks and herds might drink


s: Or some stone-bason which the Herdsman's hand


s: Had shap'd for their refreshment, nor did sun


s: This glade of water and this one green field.


s: The spot was made by Nature for herself:


s: The travellers know it not, and 'twill remain


s: And if a man should plant his cottage near.


s: Should sleep beneath the shelter of its tress,


s: And blend its waters with his daily meal,


s: He would so love it that in his death-hour


s: Its image would survive among his thoughts,


s: And, therefore, my sweet MARY, this still nook


s: With all its beeches we have named from You.


s: If from the public way you turn your steps


s: Up the tumultuous brook of Green-head Gill,


s: You will suppose that with an upright path


s: Your feet must struggle; in such bold ascent


s: The pastoral Mountains front you, face to face.


s: But, courage! for beside that boisterous Brook


s: The mountains have all open'd out themselves,


s: As journey thither find themselves alone


s: With a few sheep, with rocks and stones, and kites


s: Nor should I have made mention of this Dell


s: But for one object which you might pass by,


s: Might see and notice not. Beside the brook


s: There is a straggling heap of unhewn stones!


s: Which, though it be ungarnish'd with events,


s: Is not unfit, I deem, for the fire-side,


s: Or for the summer shade. It was the first,


s: The earliest of those tales that spake to me


s: Of Shepherds, dwellers in the vallies, men


s: For their own sakes, but for the fields and hills


s: And hence this Tale, while I was yet a boy


s: Careless of books, yet having felt the power


s: For passions that were not my own, and think


s: On man; the heart of man and human life.


s: For the delight of a few natural hearts,


s: And with yet fonder feeling, for the sake


s: Of youthful Poets, who among these Hills


s: There dwelt a Shepherd, Michael was his name.


s: An old man, stout of heart, and strong of limb.


s: His bodily frame had been from youth to age


s: Of an unusual strength: his mind was keen


s: Intense and frugal, apt for all affairs,


s: And in his Shepherd's calling he was prompt


s: Hence he had learn'd the meaning of all winds,


s: Of blasts of every tone, and often-times


s: When others heeded not, He heard the South


s: Make subterraneous music, like the noise


s: The Shepherd, at such warning, of his flock


s: Bethought him, and he to himself would say


s: And truly at all times the storm, that drives


s: The Traveller to a shelter, summon'd him


s: That came to him and left him on the heights.


s: So liv'd he till his eightieth year was pass'd.


s: And grossly that man errs, who should suppose


s: That the green Valleys, and the Streams and Rocks


s: Were things indifferent to the Shepherd's thoughts.


s: Fields, where with chearful spirits he had breath'd


s: The common air; the hills, which he so oft


s: Had climb'd with vigorous steps; which had impress'd


s: Of hardship, skill or courage, joy or fear;


s: Had fed or shelter'd, linking to such acts,


s: So grateful in themselves, the certainty


s: Of honorable gains; these fields, these hills


s: Than his own Blood--what could they less? had laid


s: Strong hold on his affections, were to him


s: The pleasure which there is in life itself.


s: He had not passed his days in singleness.


s: Though younger than himself full twenty years.


s: Whose heart was in her house: two wheels she had


s: Of antique form, this large for spinning wool,


s: That small for flax, and if one wheel had rest,


s: The Pair had but one Inmate in their house,


s: An only Child, who had been born to them


s: When Michael telling o'er his years began


s: To deem that he was old, in Shepherd's phrase,


s: With one foot in the grave. This only son,


s: With two brave sheep dogs tried in many a storm.


s: Made all their Household. I may truly say,


s: For endless industry. When day was gone,


s: The Son and Father were come home, even then,


s: Their labour did not cease, unless when all


s: Turn'd to their cleanly supper-board, and there


s: Each with a mess of pottage and skimm'd milk,


s: Sate round their basket pil'd with oaten cakes,


s: And their plain home-made cheese. Yet when their meal


s: Was ended, LUKE (for so the Son was nam'd)


s: And his old Father, both betook themselves


s: To such convenient work, as might employ


s: Their hands by the fire-side; perhaps to card


s: Wool for the House-wife's spindle, or repair


s: Some injury done to sickle, flail, or scythe,


s: Down from the cicling by the chimney's edge,


s: Which in our ancient uncouth country style


s: Large space beneath, as duly as the light


s: Of day grew dim, the House-wife hung a lamp;


s: Which going by from year to year had found


s: Nor chearful, yet with objects and with hopes


s: And now, when LUKE was in his eighteenth year,


s: There by the light of this old lamp they sate,


s: Father and Son, while late into the night


s: The House-wife plied her own peculiar work,


s: Making the cottage thro' the silent hours


s: Murmur as with the sound of summer flies.


s: Not with a waste of words, but for the sake


s: Of pleasure, which I know that I shall give


s: Speak thus minutely: for there are no few


s: Whose memories will bear witness to my tale,


s: The Light was famous in its neighbourhood,


s: The thrifty Pair had liv'd. For, as it chanc'd,


s: Their Cottage on a plot of rising ground


s: Stood single, with large prospect North and South,


s: And Westward to the village near the Lake.


s: And so far seen, the House itself by all


s: Who dwelt within the limits of the vale,


s: Both old and young, was nam'd The Evening Star.


s: Thus living on through such a length of years,


s: The Shepherd, if he lov'd himself, must needs


s: Have lov'd his Help-mate; but to Michael's heart


s: This Son of his old age was yet more dear--


s: Effect which might perhaps have been produc'd


s: By that instinctive tenderness, the same


s: Blind Spirit, which is in the blood of all,


s: Or that a child, more than all other gifts,


s: Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts,


s: From such, and other causes, to the thoughts


s: The dearest object that he knew on earth.


s: His Heart and his Heart's joy! For oftentimes


s: Old Michael, while he was a babe in arms,


s: For dalliance and delight, as is the use


s: Of Fathers, but with patient mind enforc'd


s: To acts of tenderness; and he had rock'd


s: Had put on Boy's attire, did Michael love,


s: To have the young one in his sight, when he


s: Had work by his own door, or when he sate


s: With sheep before him on his Shepherd's stool,


s: Beneath that large old Oak, which near their door


s: Stood, and from it's enormous breadth of shade


s: Chosen for the Shearer's covert from the sun,


s: The CLIPPING TREE,  a name which yet it bears.


s: There, while they two were sitting in the shade,


s: With others round them, earnest all and blithe,


s: Would Michael exercise his heart with looks


s: Upon the child, if he dislurb'd the sheep


s: By catching at their legs, or with his shouts


s: Scar'd them, while they lay still beneath the shears.


s: And when by Heaven's good grace the Boy grew up


s: Two steady roses that were five years old,


s: With his own hand a sapling, which he hoop'd


s: Due requisites a perfect Shepherd's Staff,


s: And gave it to the Boy; wherewith equipp'd


s: At gate or gap, to stem or turn the flock,


s: There stood the urchin, as you will divine,


s: Something between a hindrance and a help,


s: And for this cause not always, I believe,


s: Receiving from his Father hire of praise.


s: While this good household thus were living on


s: From day to day, to Michael's ear there came


s: Distressful tidings. Long before, the time


s: Of which I speak, the Shepherd had been bound


s: Of an industrious life, and ample means,


s: Had press'd upon him, and old Michael now


s: Was summon'd to discharge the forfeiture,


s: Than half his substance. This un-look'd-for claim


s: More hope out of his life than he supposed


s: As soon as he had gather'd so much strength


s: That he could look his trouble in the face,


s: It seem'd that his sole refuge was to sell


s: Such was his first resolve; he thought again,


s: And his heart fail'd him. "Isabel," said he,


s: Two evenings after he had heard the news,


s: "I have been toiling more than seventy years,


s: Have we all liv'd, yet if these fields of ours


s: Should pass into a Stranger's hand, I think


s: That I could not lie quiet in my grave."


s: That was, and made an evil choice, if he


s: Were false to us; and if he were not false,


s: There are ten thousand to whom loss like this


s: "Our Luke shall leave us, Isabel; the land


s: Shall not go from us, and it shall be free,


s: He shall possess it, free as is the wind


s: That passes over it. We have, thou knowest,


s: In this distress. He is a prosperous man,


s: Thriving in trade, and Luke to him shall go,


s: And with his Kinsman's help and his own thrift,


s: He quickly will repair this loss, and then


s: What can be done? Where every one is poor


s: What can be gain'd?" At this, the old man paus'd,


s: There's Richard Bateman, thought she to herself,


s: They made a gathering for him, shillings, pence,


s: And halfpennies, wherewith the Neighbours bought


s: A Basket, which they fill'd with Pedlar's wares,


s: And with this Basket on his arm, the Lad


s: Went up to London, found a Master there,


s: Beyond the seas, where he grew wond'rous rich,


s: And left estates and monies to the poor,


s: And at his birth-place built a Chapel, floor'd


s: With Marble, which he sent from foreign lands.


s: These thoughts, and many others of like sort,


s: Pass'd quickly thro' the mind of Isabel,


s: And her face brighten'd. The Old Man was glad.


s: And thus resum'd. "Well I Isabel, this scheme


s: These two days has been meat and drink to me.


s: Far more than we have lost is left us yet.


s: Were younger, but this hope is a good hope.


s: --Make ready Luke's best garments, of the best


s: Buy for him more, and let us send him forth


s: To-morrow, or the next day, or to-night:


s: --If he could go, the Boy should go to-night."


s: Here Michael ceas'd, and to the fields went forth


s: With a light heart. The House-wife for five days


s: Was restless morn and night, and all day long


s: Wrought on with her best fingers to prepare


s: Things needful for the journey of her Son.


s: To stop her in her work; for, when she lay


s: By Michael's side, she for the two last nights


s: Heard him, how he was troubled in his sleep:


s: And when they rose at morning she could see


s: That all his hopes were gone. That day at noon


s: She said to Luke, while they two by themselves


s: Were sitting at the door, "Thou must not go,


s: We have no other Child but thee to lose,


s: For if thou leave thy Father he will die."


s: The Lad made answer with a jocund voice,


s: And Isabel, when she had told her fears,


s: Recover'd heart. That evening her best fare


s: Did she bring forth, and all together sate


s: Like happy people round a Christmas fire.


s: And all the ensuing week the house appear'd


s: As cheerful as a grove in Spring: at length


s: The expected letter from their Kinsman came,


s: To which requests were added that forthwith


s: He might be sent to him. Ten times or more


s: Went forth to shew it to the neighbours round:


s: Nor was there at that time on English Land


s: A prouder heart than Luke's. When Isabel


s: Had to her house return'd, the Old Man said,


s: "He shall depart to-morrow." To this word


s: The House--wife answered, talking much of things


s: Which, if at such, short notice he should go,


s: Would surely be forgotten. But at length


s: She gave consent, and Michael was at ease.


s: Near the tumultuous brook of Green-head Gill,


s: In that deep Valley, Michael had design'd


s: To build a Sheep-fold, and, before he heard


s: For this same purpose he had gathered up


s: A heap of stones, which close to the brook side


s: Lay thrown together, ready for the work.


s: With Luke that evening thitherward he walk'd;


s: And soon as they had reach'd the place he stopp'd,


s: And thus the Old Man spake to him. "My Son,


s: To-morrow thou wilt leave me; with full heart


s: That wert a promise to me ere thy birth,


s: And all thy life hast been my daily joy.


s: Of our two histories; 'twill do thee good


s: When thou art from me, even if I should speak


s: Of things thou caust not know of.--After thou


s: First cam'st into the world, as it befalls


s: To new-born infants, thou didst sleep away


s: Two days, and blessings from thy Father's tongue


s: Then fell upon thee. Day by day pass'd on,


s: And still I lov'd thee with encreasing love."


s: Than when I heard thee by our own fire-side


s: First uttering without words a natural tune,


s: When thou, a feeding babe, didst in thy joy


s: Sing at thy Mother's breast. Month follow'd month,


s: And in the open fields my life was pass'd


s: And in the mountains, else I think that thou


s: Hadst been brought up upon thy father's knees.


s: --But we were playmates, Luke; among these hills,


s: As well thou know'st, in us the old and young


s: Have play'd together, nor with me didst thou


s: Luke had a manly heart; but at these words


s: He sobb'd aloud; the Old Man grasp'd his hand,


s: That these are things of which I need not speak.


s: --Even to the utmost I have been to thee


s: Receiv'd at others' hands, for, though now old


s: Remember them who lov'd me in my youth."


s: Both of them sleep together: here they liv'd


s: As all their Forefathers had done, and when


s: At length their time was come, they were not loth


s: To give their bodies to the family mold.


s: I wish'd that thou should'st live the life they liv'd.


s: But 'tis a long time to look back, my Son,


s: And see so little gain from sixty years.


s: These fields were burthen'd when they came to me;


s: 'Till I was forty years of age, not more


s: "I toil'd and toil'd; God bless'd me in my work,


s: And 'till these three weeks past the land was free.


s: Another Master. Heaven forgive me, Luke,


s: If I judge ill for thee, but it seems good


s: That thou should'st go." At this the Old Man paus'd,


s: Then, pointing to the Stones near which they stood,


s: Thus, after a short silence, he resum'd: