The shade of discontent which on his brow
Had gathered," Ye have left my Cell,-but see
How Nature hems you in with friendly arms!
And by her help ye are my Prisoners still.
But which way shall I lead you?-how contrive,
In Spot so parsimoniously endowed,
That the brief hours, which yet remain, may reap
Some recompence of knowledge or delight?"
So saying, round he looked, as if perplexed;
And, to remove those doubts, my grey-haired Friend
Said "Shall we take this pathway for our guide?-
Upwards it winds, as if, in summer heats,
Its line had first been fashioned by the flock
A place of refuge seeking at the root
yon black yew-tree; whose protruded boughs Darken the silver bosom of the crag,
From which it draws its meagre sustenance.
There in commodious shelter may we rest.
Or let us trace this Streamlet to its source;
Feebly it tinkles with an earthy sound,
And a few steps may bring us to the spot
Where, haply, crowned with flowerets and green herbs,
The mountain Infant to the sun comes forth,
Like human Life from darkness."-At the word
We followed where he led :-a sudden turn
Through a strait passage of encumbered ground,
Proved that such hope was vain :-for now we stood
Shut out from prospect of the open Vale,
And saw the water, that composed this Rill,
Descending, disembodied, and diffused
O'er the smooth surface of an ample Crag,
Lofty, and steep, and naked as a Tower.
All further progress here was barred ;-And who,
Thought I, if master of a vacant hour,
Here would not linger, willingly detained?
Whether to such wild objects he were led
When copious rains have magnified the stream
Into a loud and white-robed Waterfall,
Or introduced at this more quiet time.
Upon a semicirque of turf-clad ground,
The hidden nook discovered to our view
A Mass of rock, resembling, as it lay
Right at the foot of that moist precipice,
A stranded Ship, with keel upturned,-that rests
Fearless of winds and waves. Three several Stones
Stood near, of smaller size, and not unlike
To monumental pillars: and, from these
Some little space disjoined, a pair were seen,
That, with united shoulders bore aloft
A Fragment, like an Altar, flat and smooth.
Barren the tablet, yet thereon appeared,
Conspicuously stationed, one fair Plant,
A tall and shining Holly, which had found
A hospitable chink, and stood upright,
As if inserted by some human hand,
In mockery, to wither in the sun,
Or lay its beauty flat before a breeze,
The first that entered. But no breeze did now
Find entrance;-high, or low, appeared no trace
Of motion, save the Water that descended,
Diffused adown that Barrier of steep rock,
And softly creeping, like a breath of air,
Such as is sometimes seen, and hardly seen,
To brush the still breast of a chrystal Lake.
"Behold a Cabinet for Sages built,
Which Kings might envy!"-Praise to this effect Broke from the happy Old Man's reverend lip;
Who to the Solitary turned, and said,
“In sooth, with love's familiar privilege,
You have decried, in no unseemly terms
Of modesty, that wealth which is your own.
Among these Rocks and Stones, methinks, I see
More than the heedless impress that belongs
To lonely Nature's casual work: they bear
A semblance strange of power intelligent,
And of design not wholly worn away.
Boldest of plants that ever faced the wind,
How gracefully that slender Shrub looks forth
From its fantastic birth-place! And I own,
Some shadowy intimations haunt me here,
I cannot but incline to a belief
That in these shows a chronicle survives
purposes akin to those of Man,
But wrought with mightier arm than now prevails.
-Voiceless the Stream descends into the gulph
With timid lapse;-and lo! while in this Strait
I stand-the chasm of sky above my head
Is heaven's profoundest azure; no domain
For fickle, short-lived clouds to occupy,
Or to pass through, but rather an Abyss
In which the everlasting Stars abide ;
And whose soft gloom, and boundless depth, might tempt The curious eye to look for them by day.
-Hail Contemplation! from the stately towers,
Reared by the industrious hand of human Art
To lift thee high above the misty air,
And turbulence, of murmuring cities vast;
From academic groves, that have for thee
Been planted, hither come and find a Lodge
To which thou mayest resort for holier peace,-
From whose calm centre Thou, through height or depth,
Mayest penetrate, wherever Truth shall lead ;
Measuring through all degrees, until the scale
Of time and conscious Nature disappear,
Lost in unsearchable Eternity!"
A pause ensued; and with minuter care We scanned the various features of the scene: And soon the Tenant of that lonely Vale
With courteous voice thus spake
Hereafter, should perhaps have blamed myself,
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