And where the very monarch of the brook, After long struggle, had escaped at last — Stealing alternately at them and us (As doth his Comrade too) a look of pride; And, verily, the silent Creatures made A splendid sight, together thus exposed; Dead - but not sullied or deformed by Death, That seemed to pity what he could not spare.
But O, the animation in the mien
Of those two Boys! Yea in the very words With which the young Narrator was inspired, When, as our questions led, he told at large Of that day's prowess! Him might I compare, His look, tones, gestures, eager eloquence, To a bold Brook that splits for better speed, And, at the self-same moment, works its way Through many channels, ever and anon Parted and reunited: his Compeer
To the still Lake, whose stillness is to sight
As beautiful, as grateful to the mind.
- But to what object shall the lovely Girl Be likened? She whose countenance and air Unite the graceful qualities of both, Even as she shares the pride and joy of both,
My gray-haired Friend was moved; his vivid eye Glistened with tenderness; his Mind, I knew, Was full; and had, I doubted not, returned, Upon this impulse, to the theme erewhile Abruptly broken off. The ruddy Boys Withdrew, on summons to their well-earned meal; And He (to whom all tongues resigned their rights With willingness, to whom the general ear Listened with readier patience than to strain Of music, lute or harp, — a long delight That ceased not when his voice had ceased) as One Who from truth's central point serenely views The compass of his argument-began Mildly, and with a clear and steady tone.
DISCOURSE OF THE WANDERER, AND AN EVENING VISIT TO THE LAKE.
Wanderer asserts that an active principle pervades the Universe.-Its noblest seat the human soul - How lively this principle is in Childhood - Hence the delight in Old Age of looking back upon Childhood - The dignity, powers, and privileges of Age asserted-These not to be looked for generally but under a just government - Right of a human Creature to be exempt from being considered as a mere Instrument - Vicious inclinations are best kept under by giving good ones an opportunity to show themselves-The condition of multitudes deplored, from want of due respect to this truth on the part of their superiors in society. - Former conversation recurred to, and the Wanderer's opinions set in a clearer light-Genuine principles of equality-Truth placed within reach of the humblest - Happy state of the two Boys again adverted to― Earnest wish expressed for a System of National Education established universally by Government - Glorious effects of this foretold - Wanderer breaks off- Walk to the Lake - embark - Description of scenery and amusements- Grand spectacle from the side of a hill - Address of Priest to the Supreme Being-In the course of which he contrasts with ancient Barbarism the present appear ance of the scene before him- The change ascribed to Christianity-Apostrophe to his Flock, living and deadGratitude to the Almighty- Return over the Lake Parting with the Solitary-Under what circumstances.
"To every Form of being is assigned,"
Thus calmly spake the venerable Sage,
An active principle: - howe'er removed
From sense and observation, it subsists
In all things, in all natures, in the stars Of azure heaven, the unenduring clouds, In flower and tree, in every pebbly stone That paves the brooks, the stationary rocks,
The moving waters, and the invisible air. Whate'er exists hath properties that spread B-yond itself, communicating good, A simple blessing, or with evil mixed; Spirit that knows no insulated spot,
No chasm, no solitude; from link to link It circulates, the Soul of all the Worlds. This is the freedom of the Universe; Unfolded still the more, more visible,
The more we know; and yet is reverenced least, And least respected, in the human Mind, I's most apparent home. The food of hope Is meditated action; robbed of this Her sole support, she languishes and dies. We perish also; for we live by hope And by desire; we see by the glad light, And breathe the sweet air of futurity, And so we live, or else we have no life. To-morrow-nay perchance this very hour, - (For every moment hath its own to-morrow!) Those blooming Boys, whose hearts are almost sick With present triumph, will be sure to find A field before them freshened with the dew Of other expectations; — in which course Their happy year spins round. The youth obeys A like glad impulse; and so moves the Man 'Mid all his apprehensions, cares, and fears, — Or so he ought to move. Ah! why in age Do we revert so fondly to the walks
Of Childhood - but that there the Soul discerns The dear memorial footsteps unimpaired
Of her own native vigour thence can hear Reverberations; and a choral song, Commingling with the incense that ascends Undaunted, tow'rd the imperishable heavens, From her own lonely altar?- Do not think That Good and Wise ever will be allowed, Though strength decay, to breathe in such estate As shall divide them wholly from the stir Of hopeful nature. Rightly is it said That Man descends into the VALE of years; Yet have I thought that we might also speak, And not presumptuously, I trust, of Age, As of a final EMINENCE, though bare In aspect and forbidding, yet a Point
On which 't is not impossible to sit
In awful sovereignty a place of power
A Throne, that may be likened unto his,
Wiso, in some placid day of summer, looks Down from a mountain-top,- say one of those High Peaks, that bound the vale where now we are. Faint, and diminished to the gazing eye, Forest and field, and hill and dale appear, With all the shapes upon their surface spread: But, while the gross and visible frame of things Relinquishes its hold upon the sense, Yea almost on the Mind herself, and seems
All unsubstantialized, how loud the voice Of waters, with invigorated peal
From the full River in the vale below, Ascending! For on that superior height Who sits, is disencumbered from the press Of near obstructions, and is privileged To breathe in solitude above the host Of ever-humming insects, 'mid thin air That suits not them. The murmur of the leaves Many and idle, visits not his ear;
This he is freed from, and from thousand notes Not less unceasing, not less vain than these, — By which the finer passages of sense
Are occupied; and the Soul, that would incline To listen, is prevented or deterred.
"And may it not be hoped, that, placed by Age In like removal tranquil though severe, We are not so removed for utter loss; But for some favour, suited to our need? What more than that the severing should confer Fresh power to commune with the invisible world, And hear the mighty stream of tendency Uttering, for elevation of our thought,
A clear sonorous voice, inaudible
To the vast multitude; whose doom it is To run the giddy round of vain delight, Or fret and labour on the Plain below. "But, if to such sublime ascent the hopes Of Man may rise, as to a welcome close And termination of his mortal course, Them only can such hope inspire whose minds Have not been starved by absolute neglect; Nor bodies crushed by unremitting toil; To whom kind Nature, therefore, may afford Proof of the sacred love she bears for all; Whose birthright Reason, therefore, may ensure. For me, consulting what I feel within
In times when most existence with herself Is satisfied, I cannot but believe,
That, far as kindly Nature hath free scope And Reason's sway predominates, even so far, Country, society, and time itself,
That saps the Individual's bodily frame,
And lays the generations low in dust,
Do, by the Almighty Ruler's grace, partake
Of one maternal spirit, bringing forth
And cherishing with ever-constant love,
That tires not, nor betrays. Our Life is turned
Out of her course, wherever Man is made An offering, or a sacrifice, a tool
Or implement, a passive Thing employed As a brute mean, without acknowledgment Of common right or interest in the end; Used or abused, as selfishness may prompt. Say, what can follow for a rational Soul Perverted thus, but weakness in all good
And strength in evil? Hence an after-call For chastisement, and custody, and bonds, And oft-times Death, avenger of the past, And the sole guardian in whose hands we dare Entrust the future. Not for these sad issues Was Man created; but to obey the law
Of life, and hope, and action. And 't is known That when we stand upon our native soil, Unelbowed by such objects as oppress
Our active powers, those powers themselves become Strong to subvert our noxious qualities: They sweep distemper from the busy day, And make the Chalice of the big round Year Run o'er with gladness; whence the Being moves In beauty through the world; and all who see Bless him, rejoicing in his neighbourhood.”
Then," said the Solitary, "by what force Of language shall a feeling Heart express Her sorrow for that multitude in whom
We look for health from seeds that have been sown In sickness, and for increase in a power That works but by extinction? On themselves They cannot lean, nor turn to their own hearts To know what they must do; their wisdom is To look into the eyes of others, thence To be instructed what they must avoid : Or rather, let us say, how least observed, How with most quiet and most silent death, With the least taint and injury to the air The Oppressor breathes, their human Form divine, And their immortal Soul, may waste away."
The Sage rejoined, "I thank you - you have spared My voice the utterance of a keen regret, A wide compassion which with you I share. When, heretofore, I placed before your sight
A Little-one, subjected to the Arts Of modern ingenuity, and made The senseless member of a vast machine, Serving as doth a spindle or a wheel; Think not, that, pitying him, I could forget The rustic Boy, who walks the fields, untaught; The slave of ignorance, and oft of want, And miserable hunger. Much, too much Of this unhappy lot, in early youth
We both have witnessed, lot which I myself Shared, though in mild and merciful degree: Yet was the mind to hinderances exposed, Through which I struggled, not without distress And sometimes injury, like a Lamb enthralled 'Mid thorns and brambles; or a Bird that breaks Through a strong net, and mounts upon the wind, Though with her plumes impaired. If they, whose souls Should open while they range the richer fields Of merry England, are obstructed less By indigence, their ignorance is not less,
Nor less to be deplored. For who can doubt
That tens of thousands at this day exist Such as the Boy you painted, lineal Heirs Of those who once were Vassals of her soil, Following its fortunes like the beasts or trees Which it sustained. But no one takes delight In this oppression; none are proud of it; It bears no sounding name, nor ever bore; A standing grievance, an indigenous vice Of every country under heaven. My thoughts Were turned to evils that are new and chosen, A Bondage lurking under shape of good,- Arts, in themselves beneficent and kind, But all too fondly followed and too far; To Victims, which the merciful can see Nor think that they are Victims; turned to wrongs By Women, who have Children of their own, Beheld without compassion, yea with praise! I spake of mischief by the wise diffused With gladness, thinking that the more it spreads The healthier, the securer, we become; Delusion which a moment may destroy! Lastly, I mourned for those whom I had seen Corrupted and cast down, on favoured ground, Where circumstance and nature had combined To shelter innocence, and cherish love; Who, but for this intrusion, would have lived, Possessed of health, and strength, and peace of mind, Thus would have lived, or never have been born.
"Alas! what differs more than man from man! And whence that difference? whence but from himself For see the universal Race endowed
With the same upright form! - The sun is fixed, And the infinite magnificence of heaven, Fixed within reach of every human eye; The sleepless Ocean murmurs for all ears; The vernal field infuses fresh delight
Into all hearts. Throughout the world of sense, Even as an object is sublime or fair, That object is laid open to the view Without reserve or veil; and as a power
Is salutary, or an influence sweet, Are each and all enabled to perceive That power, that influence, by impartial law. Gifts nobler are vouchsafed alike to all;
Reason, and, with that reason, smiles and tears.
Imagination, freedom in the will,
Conscience to guide and check; and death to be Foretasted, immortality presumed.
Strange, then, nor less than monstrous might be deemed The failure, if the Almighty, to this point Liberal and undistinguishing, should hide The excellence of moral qualities From common understanding; leaving truth And virtue, difficult, abstruse, and dark; Hard to be won, and only by a few;
Strange, should He deal herein with nice respects, And frustrate all the rest! Believe it not:
The primal duties shine aloft-like stars; The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless, Are scatttered at the feet of Man-like flowers. The generous inclination, the just rule, Kind wishes, and good actions, and pure thoughts - No mystery is here; no special boon For high and not for low, for proudly graced And not for meek of heart. The smoke ascends To heaven as lightly from the Cottage hearth As from the haughty palace. He, whose soul Ponders this true equality, may walk The fields of earth with gratitude and hope; Yet, in that meditation, will he find Motive to sadder grief, as we have found, — Lamenting ancient virtues overthrown, And for the injustice grieving, that hath made So wide a difference betwixt Man and Man.
"But let us rather turn our gladdened thoughts Upon the brighter scene. How blest that Pair Of blooming Boys (whom we beheld even now) Blest in their several and their common lot! A few short hours of each returning day The thriving Prisoners of their Village school: And thence let loose, to seek their pleasant homes Or range the grassy lawn in vacancy,
To breathe and to be happy, run and shout Idle, but no delay, no harm, no loss; For every genial Power of heaven and earth, Through all the seasons of the changeful year, Obsequiously doth take upon herself To labour for them; bringing each in turn The tribute of enjoyment, knowledge, health, Beauty, or strength! Such privilege is theirs, Granted alike in the outset of their course To both; and, if that partnership must cease, I grieve not," to the Pastor here he turned, "Much as I glory in that Child of yours, Repine not, for his Cottage-comrade, whom Belike no higher destiny awaits Than the old hereditary wish fulfilled, The wish for liberty to live-content
With what Heaven grants, and die-in peace of mind, Within the bosom of his native Vale. At least, whatever fate the noon of life Reserves for either, this is sure, that both Have been permitted to enjoy the dawn; Whether regarded as a jocund time, That in itself may terminate, or lead In course of nature to a sober eve.
Both have been fairly dealt with; looking back They will allow that justice has in them Been shown-alike to body and to mind."
He paused, as if revolving in his soul
Some weighty matter, then, with fervent voice And an impassioned majesty, exclaimed, O for the con.ing of that glorious time
When, prizing knowledge as her noblest wealth And best protection, this Imperial Realm, While she exacts allegiance, shall admit An obligation, on her part, to teach Them who are born to serve her and obey; Binding herself by Statute* to secure For all the Children whom her soil maintains The rudiments of Letters, and inform The mind with moral and religious truth, Both understood, and practised, so that none, However destitute, be left to droop By timely culture unsustained; or run Into a wild disorder; or be forced
To drudge through weary life without the aid Of intellectual implements and tools; A savage Horde among the civilized, A servile Band among the lordly free! This sacred right, the lisping Babe proclaims To be inherent in him, by Heaven's will, For the protection of his innocence; And the rude Boy, who, having overpast The sinless age, by conscience is enrolled, Yet mutinously knits his angry brow, And lifts his wilful hand on mischief bent, Or turns the godlike faculty of speech To impious use- by process indirect Declares his due, while he makes known his need - This sacred right is fruitlessly announced, This universal plea in vain addressed, To eyes and ears of Parents who themselves Did, in the time of their necessity, Urge it in vain; and, therefore, like a prayer That from the humblest floor ascends to heaven, It mounts to reach the State's parental ear; Who, if indeed she own a Mother's heart, And be not most unfeelingly devoid Of gratitude to Providence, will grant The unquestionable good; which England, safe From interference of external force, May grant at leisure; without risk incurred That what in wisdom for herself she doth, Others shall e'er be able to undo.
"Look! and behold, from Calpe's sunburnt cliffs To the flat margin of the Baltic sea, Long-reverenced Titles cast away as weeds; Laws overturned; -and Territory split, Like fields of ice rent by the polar wind, And forced to join in less obnoxious shapes, Which, ere they gain consistence, by a gust Of the same breath are shattered and destroyed. Meantime the Sovereignty of these fair Isles
The discovery of Dr. Bell affords marvellous facilities for carrying this into effect; and it is impossible to over-rate the benefit which might accrue to humanity from the universal application of this simple engine under an enlightened and conscientious government.
Remains entire and indivisible;
And, if that ignorance were removed, which breeds Within the compass of their several shores Dark discontent, or loud commotion, each Might still preserve the beautiful repose Of heavenly Bodies shining in their spheres. -The discipline of slavery is unknown Amongst us, hence the more do we require The discipline of virtue; order else Cannot subsist, nor confidence, nor peace. Thus, duties rising out of good possessed, And prudent caution needful to avert Impending evil, equally require
That the whole people should be taught and trained. So shall licentiousness and black resolve Be rooted out, and virtuous habits take Their place; and genuine piety descend Like an inheritance, from age to age.
"With such foundations laid, avaunt the fear Of numbers crowded on their native soil, To the prevention of all healthful growth Through mutual injury! Rather in the law Of increase and the mandate from above Rejoice! and Ye have special cause for joy. -For, as the element of air affords An easy passage to the industrious bees Fraught with their burthens; and a way as smooth For those ordained to take their sounding flight From the thronged hive, and settle where they list In fresh abodes, their labour to renew; So the wide waters, open to the power, The will, the instincts, and appointed needs Of Britain, do invite her to cast off
Her swarms, and in succession send them forth; Bound to establish new communities On every shore whose aspect favours hope Or bold adventure; promising to skill And perseverance their deserved reward. -Yes," he continued, kindling as he spake, "Change wide, and deep, and silently performed, This Land shall witness; and as days roll on, Earth's universal Frame shall feel the effect Even till the smallest habitable Rock, Beaten by lonely billows, hear the songs Of humanized Society; and bloom With civil arts, that send their fragrance forth, A grateful tribute to all-ruling Heaven. From Culture, unexclusively bestowed On Albion's noble Race in freedom born, Expect these mighty issues; from the pains And faithful care of unambitious Schools Instructing simple Childhood's ready ear: Thence look for these magnificent results! Vast the circumference of hope- and Ye Are at its centre, British Lawgivers;
To the Lake's margin, where a boat lies moored Beneath her sheltering tree."- Upon this hint We rose together: all were pleased - but most The beauteous Girl, whose cheek was flushed with joy Light as a sunbeam glides along the hills She vanished-eager to impart the scheme To her loved Brother and his shy Compeer. -Now was there bustle in the Vicar's house And earnest preparation. Forth we went,
And down the vale along the Streamlet's edge Pursued our way, a broken Company,
Mute or conversing, single or in pairs.
Thus having reached a bridge, that overarched
The hasty rivulet where it lay becalmed In a deep pool, by happy chance we saw A two-fold Image; on a grassy bank A snow-white Ram, and in the crystal flood Another and the same! Most beautiful, On the green turf, with his imperial front Shaggy and bold, and wreathed horns superb, The breathing Creature stood; as beautiful, Beneath him, showed his shadowy counterpart. Each had his glowing mountains, each his sky, And each seemed centre of his own fair world: Antipodes unconscious of each other, Yet, in partition, with their several spheres, Blended in perfect stillness, to our sight!
66 Ah! what a pity were it to disperse, Or to disturb, so fair a spectacle,
Ah! sleep not there in shame! Shall Wisdom's voice And yet a breath can do it!"
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