To slumber in the carriage more secure, |
100 Nor sleep enjoyed by curate in his desk,)
Nor yet the dozings of the clerk are sweet,
Compared with the repose) the Sofa yields.]
Oh may I live exempted) while I live
Guiltless of pampered appetite obscene |
105 From pangs arthritic) that infest the toe
Of libertine excess. | The Sofa suits
The gouty limb, 'tis true]; but gouty limb,
Though on a Sofa, may I never feel :|

For I have loved the rural walk through lanes 110 Of grassy swarth close cropped by nibbling sheep, And skirted thick with intertexture firm

Of thorny boughs; have loved the rural walk
O'er hills, through valleys, and by rivers' brink,]
E'er since a truant boy I passed my bounds
115 To enjoy a ramble on the banks of Thames. |
And still remember, nor without regret,

Of hours] that sorrow since has much endeared, |
How oft, my slice of pocket store consumed,
Still hungering, penniless and far from home,
120 I fed on scarlet hips and stony haws,
Or blushing crabs, or berries) that emboss
The bramble, black as jet, | or sloes austere.)
Hard fare but such] as boyish appetite

Disdains not,

nor the palate undepraved

125 By culinary arts unsavoury deems. |

No Sofa then awaited my return ;|
Nor Sofa then I needed.

Youth repairs
His wasted spirits quickly, by long toil

Incurring short fatigue ; and though our years) 130 As life declines, | speed rapidly away,)

And not a year] but pilfers) as he goes |

Some youthful grace) that age would gladly keep, |
A tooth or auburn lock, and by degrees

Their length and colour from the locks) they spare ;] 135 The elastic spring of an unwearied foot)

That mounts the stile with ease, or leaps the fence,]
That play of lungs, inhaling and again
Respiring freely the fresh air,) that makes
Swift pace or steep ascent no toil to me, |
140 Mine have not pilfered yet ;) nor yet impaired
My relish of fair prospect ;] scenes) that soothed
Or charmed me young, | no longer young, I find
Still soothing and of power to charm me still.)
And witness, dear companion of my walks1)
145 Whose arm this twentieth winter I perceive

Fast locked in mine, with pleasure such as love,
Confirmed by long experience of thy worth
And well-tried virtues, could alone inspire,— |
Witness a joy) that thou hast doubled long. |
150 Thou knowest my praise of nature most sincere, |
And that my raptures are not conjured up
To serve occasions of poetic pomp, |

But genuine,] and art partner of them all.]
How oft upon yon eminence our pace

155 Has slackened to a pause, and we have borne
The ruffling wind, scarce conscious | that it blew, |

131. "And [though there is] not a year, but [he]pilfers," &c.-Concessional sentence to the principal contained in lines 135 to 140.

140. Mine-Scil. my years.

142. No longer young; agreeing with I. 144. Witness-Bear witness, not observe. 150. Thou knowest my praise of nature to be most sincere.

1 Mrs. Unwin.

C

While admiration feeding at the eye,

And still unsated, dwelt upon the scene,

Thence with what pleasure have we just discerned 160 The distant plough slow moving, and beside

His labouring team,) that swerved not from the track, |
The sturdy swain diminished to a boy.)

Here Ouse, slow winding through a level plain Of spacious meads with cattle sprinkled o'er, 165 Conducts the eye along his sinuous course

Delighted. There, fast rooted in their bank Stand, never overlooked, our favourite elms, | That screen the herdsman's solitary hut ; | While far beyond, and overthwart the stream,) 170 That, as with molten glass, inlays the vale, | The sloping land recedes into the clouds ; Displaying on its varied side the grace

Of hedgerow beauties numberless, square tower, Tall spire,) from which the sound of cheerful bells 175 Just undulates upon the listening ear; |

Groves, heaths, and smoking villages remote.) Scenes must be beautiful | which daily viewed Please daily, and whose novelty survives Long knowledge and the scrutiny of years: | 180 Praise justly due to those] that I describe. | Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds

Exhilarate the spirit, and restore

The tone of languid nature.] Mighty winds,)
That sweep the skirt of some far-spreading wood
185 of ancient growth, | make music not unlike
The dash of Ocean on his winding shore,)
And lull the spirit] while they fill the mind;
Unnumbered branches waving in the blast,
And all their leaves fast fluttering, all at once. |

169. Beyond and overthwart the stream-Overthwart is a compound of over, and athwart, not differing in meaning from either of the two compounds. The pleonasm

is still heightened by the addition of be-
yond.

180. [This is] praise.
188-9. Nom. absolutes.

190 Nor less composure waits upon the roar Of distant floods, or on the softer voice

Of neighbouring fountain, or of rills

that slip Through the cleft rock, and chiming) as they fall Upon loose pebbles, lose themselves at length 195 In matted grass,] that with a livelier green Betrays the secret of their silent course. | Nature inanimate employs sweet sounds,] But animated nature sweeter still

To soothe and satisfy the human ear.]

200 Ten thousand warblers cheer the day, and one
The livelong night :] nor these alone,) whose notes
Nice-fingered art must emulate in vain, |

But cawing rooks, and kites) that swim sublime
In still repeated circles, screaming loud; |

205 The jay, the pie, and even the boding owl)

210

That hails the rising moon, | have charms for me.)
Sounds inharmonious in themselves and harsh,
Yet heard in scenes) where peace for ever reigns, |
And only there, please highly for their sake.

Peace to the artist,] whose ingenious thought
Devised the weather-house, that useful toy! |
Fearless of humid air and gathering rains
Forth steps the man, an emblem of myself,|
More delicate, his timorous mate retires.

215 When Winter soaks the fields, and female feet,
Too weak to struggle with tenacious clay,
Or ford the rivulets, are best at home,
The task of new discoveries falls on me.

At such a season, and with such a charge,

220 Once went I forth, and found, till then unknown, A cottage,] whither oft we since repair |

:

'Tis perched upon the green-hill top, but close

190. Nor-Equivalent to but not. Composure waits upon the roar of floods, i.c., it results from the roar of floods.

203. Sublime-The Latin sublimis, high, in a literal, not a metaphorical sense.

Environed with a ring of branching elms)
That overhang the thatch, | itself unseen
225 Peeps at the vale below ;) so thick beset
With foliage of such dark redundant growth,]
I called the low-roof lodge the peasant's nest.
And hidden) as it is,] and far remote

From such unpleasing sounds) as haunt the ear 230 In village or in town, | the bay of curs

Incessant, clinking hammers, grinding wheels,
And infants clamorous whether pleased or pained,
Oft have I wished the peaceful covert mine.)
Here, [I have said,] at least I should possess
235 The poet's treasure, silence, and indulge
The dreams of fancy, tranquil and secure,]
[Vain thought!] the dweller in that still retreat
Dearly obtains the refuge | it affords.]

Its elevated site forbids the wretch

240 To drink sweet waters of the crystal well;|
He dips his bowl into the weedy ditch,|
And heavy-laden brings his beverage home,
Far-fetched and little worth :] nor seldom waits,
Dependent on the baker's punctual call,
245 To hear his creaking panniers at the door,
Angry and sad, and his last crust consumed.]
So farewell envy of the peasant's nest.]
If solitude make scant the means of life, |
Society for me!]-Thou seeming sweet,
250 Be still a pleasing object in my view,|
My visit still,] but never mine abode.]
Not distant far, a length of colonnade

223. Close environed, &c.-Enlargement to Subj. itself.

225. So thick [is it] beset.

227. That I called, &c.-Adv. Sent. after correlative so.

228. As it is [hidden]—Hidden and remote both qualify the Obj. covert.

246. And his last crust consumed.-Nom.

absolute. To join this with the adjectives angry, and sad, as another qualification of he, is a somewhat loose grammatical construction, but allowable in poetry.

247. So [thou] envy of the peasants' nest, farewell.

251. Mine abode-Mine, for my, to avoid the hiatus; thus, in "mine host."