We were a noisy crew; the sun in We schemed and puzzled, head opposed heaven Beheld not vales more beautiful than In to head strife too humble to be named in Which Fate, beyond the promise of their The bond of union between life and joy. and bays Of Cumbria's rocky limits, they can tell How, when the Sea threw off his evening shade Sent welcome notice of the rising moon, And to the shepherd's hut on distant hills How I have stood, to fancies such as these A stranger, linking with the spectacle 573 And bringing with me no peculiar sense No conscious memory of a kindred sight, of quietness or peace; yet have I stood, Even while mine eye hath moved o'er many a league Of shining water, gathering as it seemed, Through every hair-breadth in that field of light, New pleasure like a bee among the flowers. 580 Invigorating thoughts from former years; Might fix the wavering balance of my mind, And haply meet reproaches too, whose power May spur me on, in manhood now mature, To honourable toil. Yet should these hopes 625 Prove vain, and thus should neither I be taught To understand myself, nor thou to know With better knowledge how the heart was framed Of him thou lovest; need I dread from thee Harsh judgments, if the song be loth to quit 630 Those recollected hours that have the charm Of visionary things, those lovely forms And sweet sensations that throw back our life, And almost make remotest infancy A visible scene, on which the sun is shining? 635 BOOK SECOND. SCHOOL-TIME (CONTINUED). THUS far, O Friend! have we, though On my corporeal frame, so wide appears leaving much Unvisited, endeavoured to retrace The simple ways in which my childhood walked The vacancy between me and those days mind, 30 That, musing on them, often do I seem Two consciousnesses, conscious of myself L And of some other Being. A rude mass 5Of native rock, left midway in the square Those chiefly that first led me to the love Of rivers, woods, and fields. The passion yet befall By nourishment that came unsought; for still Was in its birth, sustained as might Of our small market village, was the goal Or centre of these sports; and when, returned 36 After long absence, thither I repaired, From week to week, from month to Gone was the old grey stone, and in its month, we lived place A round of tumult. Duly were our games A smart Assembly-room usurped the Prolonged in summer till the day-light failed: 10 No chair remained before the doors; the bench And threshold steps were empty; fast asleep The labourer, and the old man who had sate A later lingerer; yet the revelry Continued and the loud uproar: at last, When all the ground was dark, and twinkling stars 16 Edged the black clouds, home and to bed we went, Feverish with weary joints and beating minds. Ah! is there one who ever has been young, Nor needs a warning voice to tame the pride 20 Of intellect and virtue's self-esteem? Of all mankind, who covets not at times If so he might, to duty and to truth ground Of Nature were collaterally attached When summer came, And the vain-glory of superior skill, Were tempered; thus was gradually produced A quiet independence of the heart; And to my Friend who knows me I may Of that large abbey, where within the add, Vale Fearless of blame, that hence for future Of Nightshade, to St. Mary's honour To furnish treats more costly than the In uncouth race, and left the cross-legged |