Yet being to myself a guide, Too blindly have reposed my trust: And oft, when in my heart was heard 30 The task, in smoother walks to stray; But thee I now would serve more strictly, if I may. Through no disturbance of my soul, Or strong compunction in me wrought, 35 Me this unchartered freedom tires; I feel the weight of chance-desires : My hopes no more must change their name, I long for a repose that ever is the same. 40 Stern Lawgiver! yet thou dost wear As is the smile upon thy face: Flowers laugh before thee on their beds 45 And fragrance in thy footing treads ; Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong; And the most ancient heavens, through Thee, are fresh and strong. And in the light of truth thy Bondman let me live! TO A SKY-LARK. Up with me! up with me into the clouds ! Up with me, up with me into the clouds ! With clouds and sky about thee ringing, That spot which seems so to thy mind! I have walked through wildernesses dreary, And to-day my heart is weary ; Had I now the wings of a Faery, Up to thee would I fly. There is madness about thee, and joy divine Lift me, guide me, high and high, To thy banqueting-place in the sky. Joyous as morning, Thou art laughing and scorning; Thou hast a nest for thy love and thy rest, And, though little troubled with sloth, Drunken Lark! thou would'st be loth To be such a traveller as I. Happy, happy Liver, With a soul as strong as a mountain river Joy and jollity be with us both! Alas! my journey, rugged and uneven, As full of gladness and as free of heaven, 5 ΙΟ 15 20 25 I, with my fate contented, will plod on, And hope for higher raptures, when life's day is done. 30 FIDELITY. A BARKING Sound the Shepherd hears, A cry as of a dog or fox; He halts and searches with his eyes Among the scattered rocks : The Dog is not of mountain breed; Its motions, too, are wild and shy; 1805. 5 10 With something, as the Shepherd thinks, That keeps, till June, December's snow; A silent tarn1 below! 20 Far in the bosom of Helvellyn, Remote from public road or dwelling, From trace of human foot or hand. 1 Tarn is a small Mere, or Lake, mostly high up in the mountains. There sometimes doth a leaping fish Thither the rainbow comes the cloud Not free from boding thoughts, a while Nor far had gone before he found From those abrupt and perilous rocks He instantly recalled the name, And who he was, and whence he came ; This Dog, had been through three months' space A dweller in that savage place. Yes, proof was plain that, since the day The Dog had watched about the spot, Or by his master's side: How nourished here through such long time 60 65 1805. ELEGIAC STANZAS. SUGGESTED BY A PICTURE OF PEELE CASTLE, IN A STORM, I was thy neighbour once, thou rugged Pile! So pure the sky, so quiet was the air! How perfect was the calm! it seemed no sleep; Ah! THEN, if mine had been the Painter's hand, 5 ΙΟ The light that never was, on sea or land, The consecration, and the Poet's dream; 15 |