Here closed the Sage that eloquent harangue,
Poured forth with fervour in continuous stream,
Such as, remote, 'mid savage wilderness,
An Indian Chief discharges from his breast
Into the hearing of assembled tribes,1
In open circle seated round, and hushed
As the unbreathing air, when not a leaf
Stirs in the mighty woods.-So did he speak :
The words he uttered shall not pass away
Dispersed, like music that the wind takes up
By snatches, and lets fall, to be forgotten;
No-they sank into me,2 the bounteous gift
Of one whom time and nature had made wise,
Gracing his doctrine 3 with authority

Which hostile spirits silently allow;

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1285

Of one accustomed to desires that feed

1290

On fruitage gathered from the tree of life;

To hopes on knowledge and experience built;
Of one in whom persuasion and belief
Had ripened into faith, and faith become

A passionate intuition; whence the Soul,

1295

Our faculties, shall fix in calmer seats
Of moral strength, and raise to loftier heights
Of divine love,

Whate'er we see

Or feel shall tend to quicken and refine
The humbler functions of corporeal sense.

1836.

C.

Though bound to earth by ties of pity and love,
From all injurious servitude was free.

The Sun, before his place of rest were reached,
Had yet to travel far, but unto us,

To us who stood low in that hollow dell,
He had become invisible,—a pomp

Leaving behind of yellow radiance spread
Over1 the mountain sides, in contrast bold
With ample shadows, seemingly, no less
Than those resplendent lights, his rich bequest;
A dispensation of his evening power.

-Adown the path that 2 from the glen had led
The funeral train, the Shepherd and his Mate
Were seen descending :-forth to greet them ran
Our little Page: the rustic pair approach ;
And in the Matron's countenance may be read
Plain indication 4 that the words, which told
How that neglected Pensioner was sent
Before his time into a quiet grave,
Had done to her humanity no wrong:

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1310

But we are kindly welcomed-promptly served
With ostentatious zeal.-Along the floor

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Of the small Cottage in the lonely Dell

A grateful couch was spread for our repose;
Where, in the guise of mountaineers, we lay,5
Stretched upon fragrant heath, and lulled by sound

1320

Of far-off torrents charming the still night,
And, to tired limbs and over-busy thoughts,
Inviting sleep and soft forgetfulness.1

Book Fifth

THE PASTOR

ARGUMENT

Farewell to the Valley-Reflections—A large and populous Vale described 2-The Pastor's Dwelling, and some account of him3- Church and Monuments- The Solitary musing, and where-Roused-In the Churchyard the Solitary communicates the thoughts which had recently passed through his mind-Lofty tone of the Wanderer's discourse of yesterday adverted to-Rite of Baptism, and the professions accompanying it, contrasted with the real state of human life— Apology for the Rite-Inconsistency of the best menAcknowledgment that practice falls far below the injunctions of duty as existing in the mind—General complaint of a falling off in the value of life after the time of youth—Outward appearances of content and happiness in degree illusive -Pastor approaches-Appeal made to him—His answer— Wanderer in sympathy with him—Suggestion that the least ambitious enquirers may be most free from error-The Pastor

1 Added in C.

Till every thought as gently as a flower,
That shuts its eyes at close of every day
Had folded up itself in dreamless sleep. *

2 1836.

Sight of a large and populous Vale-Solitary consents to go forward-Vale described

1814.

* With this compare The Prelude, book i. line 463 (vol. iii. p. 146)--Till all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep.

is desired to give some portraits of the living or dead from
his own observation of life among these Mountains—and for
what purpose-Pastor consents-Mountain cottage-Ex-
cellent qualities of its Inhabitants-Solitary expresses his
pleasure; but denies the praise of virtue to worth of this
kind-Feelings of the Priest before he enters upon his
account of persons interred in the Churchyard-Graves of
unbaptised Infants1—Funeral and sepulchral observances,
whence-Ecclesiastical Establishments, whence derived-
Profession of belief in the doctrine of Immortality

"FAREWELL, deep Valley, with thy one rude House,
And its small lot of life-supporting fields,
And guardian rocks!—Farewell, attractive seat !2
To the still influx of the morning light

Open, and day's pure cheerfulness, but veiled
From human observation,* as if yet

Primeval forests wrapped thee round with dark
Impenetrable shade; once more farewell,
Majestic circuit, beautiful abyss,

By Nature destined from the birth of things
For quietness profound!"

Upon the side

Of that brown ridge, sole outlet of the vale †
Which foot of boldest stranger would attempt,
Lingering 4 behind my comrades, thus I breathed

5

ΤΟ

*The "semicirque of turf-clad ground," where the conversations recorded in books iii. and iv. had been carried on.-ED.

Towards Little Langdale.-ED.

A parting tribute to a spot that seemed
Like the fixed centre of a troubled world.
Again I halted with reverted eyes;

The chain that would not slacken, was at length
Snapt, and, pursuing leisurely my way,

How vain, thought I, is it by change of place 1
To seek that comfort which the mind denies;
Yet trial and temptation oft are shunned
Wisely; and by such tenure 2 do we hold

Frail life's possessions, that even they whose fate
Yields no peculiar reason of complaint
Might, by the promise that is here, be won
To steal from active duties, and embrace

Obscurity, and undisturbed repose. 3

-Knowledge, methinks, in these disordered times, Should be allowed a privilege to have

Her anchorites, like piety of old; *

Men, who, from faction sacred, and unstained
By war, might, if so minded, turn aside
Uncensured, and subsist, a scattered few
Living to God and nature, and content
With that communion. Consecrated be
The spots where such abide ! But happier still
The Man, whom, furthermore, a hope attends
That meditation and research may guide
His privacy to principles and powers
Discovered or invented; or set forth,

Through his acquaintance with the ways of truth,

of a troubled World.

And now, pursuing leisurely my way,

How vain, thought I, it is by change of place

2 1827.

tenor

3 1845.

Obscurity, and calm forgetfulness.

1814.

1814.

1814.

15

20

25

30

35

40

* See Matthew Arnold's address as President of the Wordsworth Society, in its Transactions for the year 1883.-ED.