And that's the very pony too! Where is she, where is Betty Foy She hardly can sustain her fears; The roaring waterfall she hears, And cannot find her Idiot Boy.
Your pony's worth his weight in gold: Then calm your terrors, Betty Foy! She's coming from among the trees, And now all full in view she sees Him whom she loves, her Idiot Boy. And Betty sees the pony too: Why stand you thus, good Betty Foy? It is no goblin, 'tis no ghost,
"Tis he whom you so long have lost, He whom you love, your Idiot Boy. She looks again-her arms are up- She screams-she cannot move for joy: She darts as with a torrent's force, She almost has o'erturn'd the horse, And fast she holds her Idiot Boy. And Johnny burrs, and laughs aloud, Whether in cunning or in joy I cannot tell; but while he laughs Betty a drunken pleasure quaffs To hear again her Idiot Boy. And now she's at the pony's tail, And now she's at the pony's head,— On that side now, and now on this; And, almost stifled with her bliss, A few sad tears does Betty shed.
She kisses o'er and o'er again Him whom she loves, her Idiot Boy; She's happy here, she's happy there, She is uneasy everywhere;
Her limbs are all alive with joy.
She pats the pony, where or when She knows not, happy Betty Foy! The little pony glad may be, But he is milder far than she. You hardly can perceive his joy.
"Oh! Johnny, never mind the doctor You've done your best, and that is all.' She took the reins, when this was said, And gently turn'd the pony's head From the loud waterfall.
By this the stars were almost gone, The moon was setting on the hill, So pale you scarcely look'd at her: The little birds began to stir, Though yet their tongues were still.
The pony, Betty, and her boy, Wind slowly through the woody dale; And who is she, betimes abroad, That hobbles up the steep rough road? Who is it, but old Susan Gale?
Long Susan lay deep lost in thought, And many dreadful fears beset her, Both for her messenger and nurse; And as her mind grew worse and worse, Her body it grew better.
She turn'd, she toss'd herself in bed, On all sides doubts and terrors met her Point after point did she discuss; And while her mind was fighting thus, Her body still grew better.
"Alas! what is become of them? These fears can never be endured,
I'll to the wood."-The word scarce said, Did Susan rise up from her bed,
As if by magic cured.
Away she posts up hill and down, And to the wood at length is come;
She spies her friends, she shouts a greeting; Oh me! it is a merry meeting
As ever was in Christendom.
The owls have hardly sung their last,
While our four travellers homeward wend; The owls have hooted all night long,
And with the owls began my song, And with the owls must end.
For, while they all were travelling home, Cried Betty, "Tell us, Johnny, do, Where all this long night you have been, What you have heard, what you have soen, And, Johnny, mind you tell us true."
Now, Johnny all night long had heard The owls in tuneful concert strive; No doubt, too, he the moon had seen; For in the moonlight he had been From eight o'clock till five.
And thus, to Betty's question, he Made answer, like a traveller bold (His very words I give to you),
"The cocks did crow to-whoo, to-whoo, And the sun did shine so cold." -Thus answer'd Johnny in his glory, And that was all his travel's story.
Ir from the public way you turn your steps Up to the tumultuous brook of Greenhead Ghyll, You will suppose that with an upright path, Your feet must struggle; in such bold ascent The pastoral mountains front you, face to face. But, courage! for beside that boist'rous brook The mountains have all open'd out themselves, And made a hidden valley of their own. No habitation there is seen; but such As journey thither find themselves alone
With a few sheep, with rocks and stones, and kites. That overhead are sailing in the sky.
It is in truth an utter solitude;
Nor should I have made mention of this dell But for one object which you might pass by, Might see and notice not. Beside the brook There is a straggling heap of unhewn stones! And to that place a story appertains,
Which, though it be ungarnish'd with events, Is not unfit, I deem, for the fireside, Or for the summer shade. It was the first, The earliest of those tales that spake to me Of shepherds, dwellers in the valleys, men Whom I already loved-not verily
For their own sakes, but for the fields and hills Where was their occupation and abode. And hence this tale, while I was yet a boy Careless of books, yet having felt the power Of Nature, by the gentle agency
Of natural objects led me on to feel
For passions that were not my own, and think (At random and imperfectly indeed) On man, the heart of man, and human life. Therefore, although it be a history Homely and rude, I will relate the same For the delight of a few natural hearts And, with yet fonder feeling, for the sake Of youthful poets, who among these hills Will be my second self when I am gone.
Upon the forest-side in Grasmere Vale There dwelt a shepherd, Michael was his name; An old man, stout of heart, and strong of limb. His bodily frame had been, from youth to age, Of an unusual strength; his mind was keen, Intense and frugal, apt for all affairs, And in his shepherd's calling he was prompt And watchful more than ordinary men. Hence he had learn'd the meaning of all winds,
Of blasts of every tone; and, oftentimes, When others heeded not, he heard the south Make subterraneous music, like the noise Of bagpipers on distant Highland hills. The shepherd, at such warning, of his flock Bethought him, and he to himself would say: "The winds are now devising work for me!" And, truly, at all times, the storm, that drives The traveller to a shelter, summon'd him Up to the mountains: he had been alone Amid the heart of many thousand mists, That came to him and left him on the heights. So lived he till his eightieth year was past; And grossly that man errs, who should suppose That the green valleys, and the streams and rocks Were things indifferent to the shepherd's thoughts. Fields, where with cheerful spirits he had breathed The common air; the hills, which he so oft
Had climb'd with vigorous steps; which had impress'd So many incidents upon his mind
Of hardship, skill, or courage, joy, or fear; Which like a book preserved the memory Of the dumb animals, whom he had saved, Had fed or shelter'd, linking to such acts. So grateful in themselves, the certainty Of honourable gain; these fields, these hills, Which were his living being, even more
Than his own blood-what could they less? had laid Strong hold on his affections, were to him
A pleasurable feeling of blind love,
The pleasure which there is in life itself.
His days had not been pass'd in singleness:
His helpmate was a comely matron, old- Though younger than himself full twenty years. She was a woman of a stirring life,
Whose heart was in her house: two wheels she had Of antique form, this large for spinning wool, That small for flax; and if one wheel had rest,
It was because the other was at work.
The pair had but one inmate in their house, An only child, who had been born to them When Michael, telling o'er his years, began To deem that he was old,-in shepherd's phrase, With one foot in the grave. This only son, With two brave sheep-dogs, tried in many a storm, The one of an inestimable worth,
Made all their household. I may truly say,
That they were as a proverb in the vale For endless industry. When day was gone, And from their occupations out of doors
The son and father were come home, even then Their labour did not cease; unless when all Turn'd to their cleanly supper-board, and there,
Each with a mess of pottage and skimm'd milk, Sat round their basket piled with oaten cakes, And their plain home-made cheese. Was ended, Luke (for so the son was named) And his old father both betook themselves To such convenient work as might employ Their hands by the fireside; perhaps to card Wool for the housewife's spindle, or repair Some injury done to sickle, flail, or scythe, Or other implement of house or field.
Down from the ceiling, by the chimney's edge, Which in our ancient uncouth country style, Did with a huge projection overbrow Large space beneath, as duly as the light Of day grew dim, the housewife hung a lamp, An aged utensil, which had perform'd Service beyond all others of its kind. Early at evening did it burn and late, Surviving comrade of uncounted hours, Which, going by from year to year, had found And left the couple neither gay, perhaps, Nor cheerful, yet with objects and with hopes, Living a life of eager industry.
And now, when Luke was in his eighteenth year, There by the light of this old lamp they sat, Father and son, while late into the night The housewife plied her own peculiar work, Making the cottage through the silent hours Murmur as with the sound of summer flies. This light was famous in its neighbourhood, And was a public symbol of the life
The thrifty pair had lived. For, as it chanced, Their cottage on a plot of rising ground
Stood single, with large prospect, north and south, High into Easedale, up to Dunmal-Raise,
And westward to the village near the lake;
And from this constant light, so regular
And so far seen, the house itself, by all Who dwelt within the limits of the vale,
Both old and young, was named the "Evening Star. Thus living on through such a length of years, The shepherd, if he loved himself, must needs Have loved his helpmate; but to Michael's heart This son of his old age was yet more dear,— Effect which might perhaps have been produced By that instinctive tenderness, the same Blind spirit, which is in the blood of all- Or that a child, more than all other gifts,
Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts, And stirrings of inquietude, when they By tendency of nature needs must fail.
From such, and other causes, to the thoughts
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