Having reached the house,

I found its rescued inmate safely lodged,

And in serene possession of himself,
Beside a fire whose genial warmth seemed met
By a faint shining from the heart, a gleam
Of comfort, spread over his pallid face.1
Great show of joy the housewife made, and truly
Was glad to find her conscience set at ease;
And not less glad, for sake of her good name,
That the poor Sufferer had escaped with life.
But, though he seemed at first to have received
No harm, and uncomplaining as before

Went through his usual tasks, a silent change
Soon showed itself: he lingered three short weeks;
And from the cottage hath been borne to-day.

So ends my dolorous tale, and glad I am That it is ended." At these words he turnedAnd, with blithe air of open fellowship,

Brought from the cupboard wine and stouter cheer,

Like one who would be merry.

Seeing this,

My grey-haired Friend said courteously-" Nay, nay,
You have regaled us as a hermit ought;

Now let us forth into the sun!"-Our Host

Rose, though reluctantly, and forth we went.

1

1836.

Beside a genial fire; that seemed to spread
A gleam of comfort o'er his pallid face.

IST4.

mont, above Hartshope Hall, in our way from Paterdale to Ambleside " (I. F. MS.).

Compare this with the account of the view from the top of Snowdon, at the beginning of the Fourteenth Book of The Prelude (Vol. III. p. 389-90), and see Charles Lamb's remark in Note H, Appendix to this volume.-ED.

Book Third.

DESPONDENCY.

ARGUMENT.

Images in the Valley-Another Recess in it entered and described-Wanderer's sensations—Solitary's excited by the same objects—Contrast between these-Despondency of the Solitary gently reproved-Conversation exhibiting the Solitary's past and present opinions and feelings, till he enters upon his own History at length-His domestic felicity-Afflictions-Dejection-Roused by the French Revolution -Disappointment and disgust-Voyage to America-Disappointment and disgust pursue him-His return-His languor and depression of mind, from want of faith in the great truths of Religion, and want of confidence in the virtue of Mankind.

A HUMMING BEE- -a little tinkling rill—
A pair of falcons wheeling on the wing,
In clamorous agitation, round the crest
Of a tall rock, their airy citadel-

By each and all of these the pensive ear

Was greeted, in the silence that ensued,

When through the cottage threshold we had passed,
And, deep within that lonesome valley, stood
Once more beneath the concave of a blue1

And cloudless sky. Anon exclaimed our Host,-
Triumphantly dispersing with the taunt

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 recompense of knowledge or delight?"

So saying, round he looked, as if perplexed;

1 1827.

of the blue,

1844.

And, to remove those doubts, my grey-haired Friend
Said, "Shall we take this pathway for our guide?—
Upward it winds, as if, in summer heats,

Its line had first been fashioned by the flock
Seeking a place of refuge at the root1

Of yon black Yew-tree, whose protruded boughs
Darken the silver bosom of the crag,*

From which she draws her meagre sustenance.2
There in commodious shelter may we rest.
Or let us trace this streamlet to its source; 3
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."—A quick 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?

* There is still a single "yew-tree" high up the eastern side of the valley on the face of Lingmoor Fell,

"Darkening the silver bosom of the crag."

-ED.

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 appeared1
A tall and shining holly, that had found 2
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 crystal lake.*

The local allusions in this passage, and in what follows, are most

"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 the wealth which is your own.1
Among these rocks and stones, methinks, I see

1 1827.

You have decried, in no unseemly terms
Of modesty, that wealth which is your own.

1814.

exact and literal. The three men are supposed to leave the cottage, and to cross to the west side of the tarn, just a little to the north of the firwood which overshadows it. The "barrier of steep rock" is the low perpendicular crag to the west of the tarn, immediately below the fir-wood, and the "semicirque of turf-clad ground" is apparent at a glance, whether seen from below the rock or from above it. There are many fragments of ice-borne rock, high up the flank of Blake Rigg to the west, and on the slopes of Lingmoor to the east, which might at first sight be mistaken for the stone, like

or the

"A stranded ship, with keel upturned, that rests
Fearless of winds and waves,"

66 'fragment, like an altar;"

but this particular mass of rock lay

"Right at the foot of that moist precipice,"

and there it still lies, obvious enough even to the casual eye. The "semicirque" is the cup-shaped recess between the fir-wood and the cliff; and on entering it, the mass of rock is seen lying north-west to north-east. It is not ice-borne, but a fragment dislodged from the crag above it. It is now broken into three smaller fragments, by the weathering of many years. Cracked probably when it fell, the rents have widened, and the fragments are separated by the frosts of many winters. A sycamore of average size is now growing at its side; its root being in the cleft, where the stone is broken. Holly grows luxuriantly all along the face of the crag above; so that the existence of the bush, described as growing in the stone which resembled an altar, is easily explained. The brook is a short one, flowing through the meadow-pastures of the wood, and after a hundred yards is lost in the turfy slope, but is seen again upon the face of the "moist precipice," "softly creeping"-precisely as described in the poem. The "three several stones" that "stand near" are, I think, the one to the front, in a line with the keel of the ship; and the other two to the right and left respectively. The "pair," with the "fragment like an altar, flat and smooth," are to the left, and close at hand.-ED.