A thousand lambs are on the rocks, That plaintive cry! which up the hill IV. Said Walter, leaping from the ground, "Down to the stump of yon old yew We'll for our whistles run a race." -Away the shepherds flew. They leapt they ran-and when they came Right opposite to Dungeon-Ghyll, Seeing that he should lose the prize, "Stop!" to his comrade Walter criesJames stopped with no good will: Said Walter then, "your task is here, "Twill keep you working half a year. V. "Now cross where I shall cross-come on, And follow me where I shall lead" The other took him at his word, But did not like the deed. It was a spot, which you may see If ever you to Langdale go: Into a chasm a mighty block Hath fallen, and made a bridge of rocka The gulf is deep below; And in a basin black and small Receives a lofty waterfall. VI. With staff in hand across the cleft The challenger began his march; And now, all eyes and feet, hath gained The middle of the arch. When list! he hears a piteous moan- VII. The lamb had slipped into the stream, His dam had seen him when he fell, The lamb, still swimming round and round, VIII. When he had learnt what thing it was, IX. He drew it gently from the pool, And brought it forth into the light: The shepherds met him with his charge, An unexpected sight! Into their arms the lamb they took, Said they, "He's neither maimed nor scarred.” Then up the steep ascent they hied, And placed him at his mother's side; And gently did the Bard Those idle shepherd-boys upbraid, And bade them better mind their trade. INFLUENCE OF NATURAL OBJECTS IN CALLING FORTH AND STRENGTHENING THE IMAGINATION IN BOYHOOD AND EARLY YOUTH: FROM AN UNPUBLISHED POEM. (This Extract is reprinted from "THE FRIEND.") WISDOM and spirit of the universe! Thou soul, that art the eternity of thought! By day or star-light, thus from my first dawn The elements of feeling and of thought, Nor was this fellowship vouchsafed to me It was a time of rapture!-Clear and loud And woodland pleasures, the resounding horn, Of melancholy, not unnoticed, while the stars, Not seldom from the uproar I retired Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng, That gleamed upon the ice; and oftentimes, When we had given our bodies to the wind, And all the shadowy banks on either side Came sweeping through the darkness, spinning still The rapid line of motion, then at once Have I, reclining back upon my heels, Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffs Wheeled by me-even as if the earth had rolled With visible motion her diurnal round! Behind me did they stretch in solemn train, S TO H. C. SIX YEARS OLD. O THOU! whose fancies from afar are brought; The breeze-like motion and the self-born carol; In such clear water, that thy boat May rather seem To brood on air than on an earthly stream: Where earth and heaven do make one imagery; O blessed vision! happy child! That art so exquisitely wild, I think of thee with many fears For what may be thy lot in future years. I thought of times when pain might be thy guest, Lord of thy house and hospitality; And grief, uneasy lover! never rest But when she sate within a touch of thee. Oh! too industrious folly! Oh! vain and causeless melancholy! Nature will either end thee quite; Or, lengthening out thy season of delight, Preserve for thee, by individual right, A young lamb's heart among the full-grown flocks. What hast thou to do with sorrow, Or the injuries of to-morrow? Thou art a dew-drop, which the morn brings forth, Not framed to undergo unkindly shocks; Or to be trailed along the soiling earth; A gem that glitters while it lives, And no forewarning gives; But, at the touch of wrong, without a strife POEMS ON THE NAMING OF PLACES. ADVERTISEMENT. By persons resident in the country and attached to rural objects, many places will be found unnamed or of unknown names, where little incidents have occurred, or feelings been experienced, which will have given to such places a private and peculiar interest. From a wish to give some sort of record to such incidents, or renew the gratification of such feelings, names have been given to places by the author and some of his friends, and the following poems written in consequence. I. It was an April morning: fresh and clear The rivulet, delighting in its strength, Ran with a young man's speed; and yet the voice Of waters which the Winter had supplied Was softened down into a vernal tone. The spirit of enjoyment and desire, And hopes and wishes, from all living things Yet leafless, seemed as though the countenance That could not cease to be. Green leaves were here; |