That you will gladly listen to discourse, However trivial, if you thence be taught That they, with whom you once were happy, talk Familiarly of you and of old times. While I was seated, now some ten days past, Beneath those lofty firs, that overtop Their ancient neighbor, the old steeple-tower, The Vicar from his gloomy house hard by Came forth to greet me; and when he had asked, "How fares Joanna, that wild-hearted Maid? And when will she return to us ? he paused; And, and after short exchange of village news, He with grave looks demanded, for what cause, Reviving obsolete idolatry, I, like a Runic Priest, in characters Of formidable size had chiselled out Some uncouth name upon the native rock, Now, by those dear immunities of heart Engendered between malice and true love, I was not loth to be so catechized, And this was my reply: "As it befell, One summer morning we had walked abroad 'T was that delightful season when the broom, Full-flowered, and visible on every steep, Along the copses runs in veins of gold. That eastward looks, I there stopped short, and stood Tracing the lofty barrier with my eye From base to summit; such delight I found Along so vast a surface, all at once, Of their own beauty, imaged in the heart. When I had gazed perhaps two minutes' space, Joanna, looking in my eyes, beheld That ravishment of mine, and laughed aloud. Carried the Lady's voice, —old Skiddaw blew Now whether" (said I to our cordial Friend, Who in the heyday of astonishment Smiled in my face) "this were in simple truth To me alone imparted, sure I am That there was a loud uproar in the hills. To shelter from some object of her fear. And hence, long afterwards, when eighteen moons Were wasted, as I chanced to walk alone 1800. NOTE. In Cumberland and Westmoreland are several inscriptions, upon the native rock, which, from the wasting of time, and the rudeness of the workmanship, have been mistaken for Runic. They are, without doubt, Roman. The Rotha, mentioned in this poem, is the river which, flowing through the lakes of Grasmere and Rydale, falls into Wynandermere. On Helm-crag, that impressive single mountain at the head of the Vale of Grasmere, is a rock which from most points of view bears a striking resemblance to an old woman cowering. Close by this rock is one of those fissures or caverns, which in the language of the country are called dungeons. Most of the mountains here mentioned immediately surround the Vale of Grasmere; of the others, some are at a considerable distance, but they belong to the same cluster. THERE is an Eminence, III. of these our hills The last that parleys with the setting sun; Hath to this lonely Summit given my Name. 1800. IV. A NARROW girdle of rough stones and crags, Of copse and thicket, leaves the eastern shore Of Grasmere safe in its own privacy : Sauntered on this retired and difficult way. Ill suits the road with one in haste; but we Played with our time; and, as we strolled along, It was our occupation to observe Such objects as the waves had tossed ashore, Of the dry wreck. And, in our vacant mood, That skimmed the surface of the dead calm lake, And starting off again with freak as sudden; That was its wings, its chariot, and its horse, And often, trifling with a privilege On which it grew, or to be left alone To its own beauty. Many such there are, So stately, of the Queen Osmunda named; |