No sound is uttered, — but a deep And solemn harmony pervades The hollow vale from steep to steep, And penetrates the glades. Far-distant images draw nigh, Called forth by wondrous potency Of beamy radiance, that imbues Whate'er it strikes, with gem-like hues ! In vision exquisitely clear,
Herds range along the mountain side; And glistening antlers are descried; And gilded flocks appear.
Thine is the tranquil hour, purpureal Eve! But long as god-like wish, or hope divine, Informs my spirit, ne'er can I believe That this magnificence is wholly thine! -From worlds not quickened by the sun A portion of the gift is won;
An intermingling of Heaven's pomp is spread On ground which British shepherds tread!
And, if there be whom broken ties Afflict, or injuries assail,
Yon hazy ridges to their eyes Present a glorious scale,
Climbing suffused with sunny air,
no record hath told where !
And tempting fancy to ascend,
And with immortal Spirits blend!
-Wings at my shoulder seem to play; But, rooted here, I stand and gaze
On those bright steps that heaven-ward raise Their practicable way.
Come forth, ye drooping old men, look abroad, And see to what fair countries ye are bound! And if some Traveller, weary of his road, Hath slept since noon-tide on the grassy ground, Ye Genii! to his covert speed;
And wake him with such gentle heed
As may attune his soul to meet the dower Bestowed on this transcendent hour!
Such hues from their celestial Urn Were wont to stream before my eye, Where'er it wandered in the morn Of blissful infancy.
This glimpse of glory, why renewed? Nay, rather speak with gratitude; For, if a vestige of those gleams Survived, 'twas only in my dreams.
Dread Power! whom peace and calmness serve No less than Nature's threatening voice, If aught unworthy be my choice,
From THEE if I would swerve,
Oh, let thy grace remind me of the light Full early lost, and fruitlessly deplored; Which, at this moment, on my waking sight Appears to shine, by miracle restored! My soul, though yet confined to earth, Rejoices in a second birth;
-'Tis past, the visionary splendour fades ; And night approaches with her shades.
Note. The multiplication of mountain-ridges, described, at the commencement of the third stanza of this Ode, as a kind of Jacob's Ladder, leading to Heaven, is produced either by watery vapours, or sunny haze; -- in the present instance, by the latter cause. Allusions to the Ode, entitled "Intimations of Immortality," at the conclusion of the fourth volume, pervade the last stanza of the foregoing Poem.
COMPOSED A FEW MILES ABOVE TINTERN ABBEY, ON REVISITING THE BANKS OF THE WYE DURING A TOUR.
past; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs With a sweet inland murmur.* Once again Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs, That on a wild secluded scene impress Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect The landscape with the quiet of the sky. The day is come when I again repose Here, under this dark sycamore, and view These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts, Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,
The river is not affected by the tides a few miles above Tintern.
Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves Among the woods and copses, nor disturb The wild green landscape. Once again I see These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines Of sportive wood run wild; these pastoral farms, Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke Sent up, in silence, from among the trees! With some uncertain notice, as might seem, Of vagrant Dwellers in the houseless woods, Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire The Hermit sits alone.
These beauteous Forms, Through a long absence, have not been to me As is a landscape to a blind man's eye: But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them, In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; And passing even into my purer mind, With tranquil restoration:- feelings too Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps, As have no slight or trivial influence On that best portion of a good man's life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts
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