The Enfolded Prelude: Book Fourth

Book Fourth

Summer Vacation

A pleasant sight it Bright was when, having clombthe summer's noon when quickening steps

The Heights of Kendal, and that Followed each other till a dreary moor

Was crossed, at length a bare ridge clomb, upon whose top

Standing alone, as from a rampart's edgeedge,

I overlooked the bed of Windermere.Windermere,

Like a vast river, stretching in the sun.

With exultation, at my feet I saw

Lake, islands, promontories, gleaming bays,

A universe of Nature's fairest forms

Proudly revealed with instantaneous burst,

Magnificent, and beautiful, and gay.

I bounded down the hill, hill shouting amain

A lusty summons For the old Ferryman; to the farther shoreshout the rocks

For the old ferryman; Replied, and when he camethe Charon of the flood

Had staid his oars, and touched the jutting pier,

I did not step into the well-known boat

Without a cordial welcome. greeting. Thence right forthwith speed

Up the familiar hill I took my way, now drawing towards home,way

To Towards that sweet valley Valley where I had been reared;

'Twas but a short hour's walk ere, walk, ere veering round,round

I saw the snow-white church upon its her hill

Sit like a thronbd lady, throned Lady, sending out

A gracious look all over its her domain.

Yon azure smoke betrays the lurking town;

With eager footsteps I advance and reach

The cottage threshold where my journey closed.

Glad greetings welcome had I, and with some tears tears, perhaps,

From my old dame, Dame, so motherly kind and good,motherly,

While she perused me with a parent's pride.

The thoughts of gratitude shall fall like dew

Upon thy grave, good creature: while creature! While my heart

Can beat I never will I forget thy name.

Heaven's blessing be upon thee where thou liest

After thy innocent and busy stir

In narrow cares, thy little daily growth

Of calm enjoyments, after eighty years,

And more than eighty, of untroubled lifelife;

Childless, yet by the strangers to they thy blood

Honoured with little less than filial love.

Great What joy was mine to see thee once again,

Thee and thy dwelling, and a throng crowd of things

About its narrow precincts, precincts all belovedbeloved,

And many of them seeming yet my own.own!

Why should I speak of what a thousand hearts

Have felt, and every man alive can guess?

The rooms, the court, the garden were not left

Long unsaluted, and nor the spreading pinesunny seat

And broad Round the stone table underneath its boughs—

Our summer seat in many a festive hour—

And that unruly child of mountain birth,

The froward brook, which, soon as he was boxed

Within our garden, found himself at once

As if by trick insidious and unkind,

Stripped of his voice, and left to dimple down

Without an effort and without a will

A channel paved by the hand of man.under the dark pine,

Friendly to studious or to festive hours;

Nor that unruly child of mountain birth,

The famous brook, who, soon as he was boxed

Within our garden, found himself at once,

As if by trick insidious and unkind,

Stripped of his voice and left to dimple down

(Without an effort and without a will)

A channel paved by man's officious care.

I looked at him and smiled, and smiled again,

And in the press of twenty thousand thoughts,

'Ha', "Ha," quoth I, 'pretty "pretty prisoner, are you there!'

-And now, reviewing soberly that hour,

I marvel that a fancy did not flashthere !"

Upon me, and a strong desire, straitway,Well might sarcastic Fancy then have whispered,

At sight of such an "An emblem that shewed forthhere behold of thy own life;

So aptly my In its late course of even daysdays with all

And all their Their smooth enthralment, to pen downenthralment;" but the heart was full,

A satire on myself. Too full for that reproach. My aged dameDame

Was with me, Walked proudly at my side; side: she guided me,me;

I willing, nay—nay, wishing to be led.

—.The face of every neighbour whom I met

Was as like a volume to me; some I were hailed

Far off, upon Upon the road, or some busy at their workwork,

Unceremonious greetings, greetings interchanged

With half the length of a long field between.

Among my schoolfellows I scattered round

A salutation that was more constrainedLike recognitions, but with some constraint

Though earnest doubtless Attended, doubtless, with a little pride,

But with more shame, for my habiliments,

The transformation and the wrought by gay attire.

Delighted Not less delighted did I take my place againplace

At our domestic table; table: and, dear friend,Friend!

Relating In this endeavour simply as my wish hath beento relate

A poet's Poet's history, can may I leave untold

The joy thankfulness with which I laid me down at nightdown

In my accustomed bed, more welcome now

Perhaps than if it had been more desired,desired

Or been more often thought of with regret—

That bed whence I had heard the roaring wind

And clamorous rain, that bed where I so oft

Had lain awake on breezy nights to watch

The moon in splendour couched among the leaves

Of a tall ash that near our cottage stood,

Had watched her with fixed eyes, while to and fro

In the dark summit of the moving tree

She rocked with every impulse of the wind.regret;

That lowly bed whence I had heard the wind

Roar, and the rain beat hard; where I so oft

Had lain awake on summer nights to watch

The moon in splendour couched among the leaves

Of a tall ash, that near our cottage stood;

Had watched her with fixed eyes while to and fro

In the dark summit of the waving tree

She rocked with every impulse of the breeze.

Among the faces which favourites whom it pleased me well

To see again again, was one by ancient right

Our inmate, a rough terrier of the hills,hills;

By birth and call of nature preordainedpre-ordained

To hunt the badger and unearth the fox

Among the impervious crags. But crags, but having been

From youth our own adopted, he had passed

Into a gentler service; and service. And when first

The boyish spirit flagged, and day by day

Along my veins I kindled with the stir,

The fermentation fermentation, and the vernal heat

Of poesy, affecting private shades

Like a sick lover, Lover, then this dog was used

To watch me, an attendant and a friend,

Obsequious to my steps early and late,

Though often of such dilatory walk

Tired, and uneasy at the halts I made.

A hundred times when in these wanderingswhen, roving high and low,

I have been busy harassed with the toil of verseverse,

Great Much pains and little progress progress, and at once

Some fair enchanting image lovely Image in my mindthe song rose up

Rose up, full-formed Full-formed, like Venus rising from the sea,sea;

Have Then have I sprung forth towards him and darted forwards to let loose

My hand upon his back with stormy joy,

Caressing him again and yet again.

And when in at evening on the public roads at eventideway

I sauntered, like a river murmuring

And talking to itself, at such a seasonitself when all things else

It was his custom to jog Are still, the creature trotted on before;

But, duly whensoever Such was his custom; but whene'er he had met

A passenger approaching, would he would turn

To give me timely notice, and straitway,straightway,

Punctual to such Grateful for that admonishment, I hushed

My voice, composed my gait, and shaped myselfand, with the air

And mien of one whose thoughts are free, advanced

To give and take a greeting that might save

My name from piteous rumours, such as wait

On men suspected to be crazed in brain.

Those walks, walks well worthy to be prized and loved.loved

Regretted, Regretted! that word too word, too, was on my tongue,

But they were richly laden with all good,

And cannot be remembered but with thanks

And gratitude gratitude, and perfect joy of heart—

Those walks did now like a returning spring

Come back on me again. hear[—

Those walks in all their freshness now came back

Like a returning Spring. When first I made

Once more the circuit of our little lakelake,

If ever happiness hath lodged with manman,

That day consummate happiness was mine—

Wide-spreading, steady, calm, contemplative.mine,

Wide-spreading, steady, calm, contemplative.

The sun was set, or setting, when I left

Our cottage door, and evening soon brought on

A sober hour, not winning or serene,

For cold and raw the air was, and untuned;untuned:

But as a face we love is sweetest then

When sorrow damps it, or, whatever look

It chance to wear, is sweetest if the heart

Have fulness in itself, herself; even so with me

It fared that evening. Gently did my soul

Put off her veil, and, self-transmuted, stood

Naked Naked, as in the presence of her God.

As While on I walked, a comfort seemed to touch

A heart that had not been disconsolate,disconsolate:

Strength came where weakness was not known to be,

At least not felt; and restoration came

Like an intruder knocking at the door

Of unacknowledged weariness. I took

The balance in my hand balance, and with firm hand weighed myself:myself.

I saw but little, and thereat was pleased;—.Of that external scene which round me lay,

Little Little, in this abstraction, did I remember, and even thissee;

Still pleased me more Remembered less; but I had hopes and peaceinward hopes

And swellings of the spirits, spirit, was rapt and soothed,

Conversed with promises, had glimmering views

How life pervades the undecaying mind,mind;

How the immortal soul with godlike God-like power

Informs, creates, and thaws the deepest sleep

That time can lay upon her, her; how on earthearth,

Man Man, if he do but live within the light

Of high endeavours, daily spreads abroad

His being armed with a strength that cannot fail.

Nor was there want of milder thoughts, of love,

Of innocence, and holiday repose,repose;

And more than pastoral quiet in quiet, 'mid the heartstir

Of amplest boldest projects, and a peaceful end

At last, or glorious, by endurance won.

Thus musing, in a wood I sate me down

Alone, continuing there to muse. Meanwhilemuse: the slopes

The mountain And heights meanwhile were slowly overspread

With darkness, and before a rippling breeze

The long lake lengthened out its hoary line,

And in the sheltered coppice where I sate,

Around me, me from among the hazel leaves—

Now here, now there, stirred by the straggling wind—

Came intermittingly a breath-like sound,

A respiration short and quick, which oft,

Yea, might I say, again and yet again,

Mistaking for the panting of my dog,

The off-and-on companion of my walk,

I turned my head to look if he were there.leaves,

Now here, now there, moved by the straggling wind,

Came ever and anon a breath-like sound,

Quick as the pantings of the faithful dog,

The off and on companion of my walk;

And such, at times, believing them to be,

I turned my head to look if he were there;

Then into solemn thought I passed once more.

A freshness also found I at this time

In human life, Life, the daily life I mean of those

Whose occupations really I loved.loved;

The prospect often touched peaceful scene oft filled me with surprize:

Crowded and full, and changed, as seemed to me,surprise

Even as Changed like a garden in the heat of spring

After an eight-days' absence. For to (to omit

The things which were the same and yet appeared

So different Far otherwise) amid this rural solitude,

The little vale A narrow Vale where each was my chief abode,known to all,

'Twas not indifferent to a youthful mind

To note, perhaps mark some sheltered seat in whichsheltering bower or sunny nook

An Where an old man had been used to sun himself,sit alone,

Now empty; vacant; pale-faced babes whom I had left

In arms, known children of now rosy prattlers at the neighbourhood,feet

Now rosy prattlers, Of a pleased grandame tottering up and down;

And growing girls whose beauty, filched away

With all its pleasant promises, was gone

To deck some slighted playmate's homely cheek.

Yes, I had something of another eye,a subtler sense,

And often looking round was moved to smiles

Such as a delicate work of humour breeds.breeds;

I read, without design, the opinions, thoughts,

Of those plain-living people, in a sensepeople now observed

Of love and knowledge: With clearer knowledge; with another eye

I saw the quiet woodman in the woods,

The shepherd on roam the hills. With new delight,

This chiefly, did I view note my grey-haired dame,Dame;

Saw her go forth to church, church or other work

Of state, state equipped in monumental trim—

Short velvet cloak, her bonnet of the like,

A mantle such as Spanish cavaliers

Wore in old time. trim;

Short velvet cloak, (her bonnet of the like),

A mantle such as Spanish Cavaliers

Wore in old times. Her smooth domestic lifelife,

Affectionate without uneasiness—

Her talk, her business, pleased me; and no less

Her clear though shallow stream of piety,

That ran on sabbath days a fresher course.disquietude,

Her talk, her business, pleased me; and no less

Her clear though shallow stream of piety

That ran on Sabbath days a fresher course;

With thoughts unfelt till now I saw her read

Her bible Bible on the hot Sunday afternoons,

And loved the book book, when she had dropped asleep

And made of it a pillow for her head.

Nor less do I remember to have feltfelt,

Distinctly manifested at this time,

A dawning, even as of another sense,

A human-heartedness about my love

For objects hitherto the gladsome airabsolute wealth

Of my own private being, being and no moremore;

Which I had loved, even as a blessbd blessed spirit

Or angel, Angel, if he were to dwell on earth,

Might love in individual happiness.

But now there opened on me other thoughts,thoughts

Of change, congratulation and or regret,

A new-born feeling. pensive feeling! It spread far and wide:wide;

The trees, the mountains shared it, and the brooks,

The stars of heaven, Heaven, now seen in their old haunts—

White Sirius glittering o'er the southern crags,

Orion with his belt, and those fair Seven,

Acquaintances of every little child,

And Jupiter, my own beloved star.

Whatever shadings of mortality

Had fallen upon these objects heretofore

Were different in kind: not tender strong,

Deep, gloomy were they, and severe, the scatterings

Of childhood, and moreover, had given way

In later youth to beauty and to love

Enthusiastic, to delight and joy.haunts.—

White Sirius glittering o'er the southern crags,

Orion with his belt, and those fair Seven,

Acquaintances of every little child,

And Jupiter, my own beloved star!

Whatever shadings of mortality,

Whatever imports from the world of death

Had come among these objects heretofore,

Were, in the main, of mood less tender: strong,

Deep, gloomy were they, and severe; the scatterings

Of awe or tremulous dread, that had given way

In later youth to yearnings of a love

Enthusiastic, to delight and hope.

As one who hangs down-bending from the side

Of a slow-moving boat boat, upon the breast

Of a still water, solacing himself

With such discoveries as his eye can make

Beneath him in the bottom of the deeps,deep,

Sees many beauteous sights weeds, fishes, flowers,

Grots, pebbles, roots of trees trees, and fancies more,

Yet often is perplexed, and cannot part

The shadow from the substance, rocks and sky,

Mountains and clouds, from that which is indeedreflected in the depth

The region, and Of the clear flood, from things which there abide

In their true dwelling; now is crossed by gleam

Of his own image, by a sunbeam now,

And wavering motions that are sent he knows not whence,

Impediments that make his task more sweet;

Such pleasant office have we long pursued

Incumbent o'er the surface of past time

With like success. Nor have we success, nor often lookedhave appeared

On more alluring shows Shapes fairer or less doubtfully discerned

Than these to me at least—

More soft, or less ambiguously descried,

Than those which now we have been passing by,

And where we still are lingering. which the Tale, indulgent Friend!

Would now direct thy notice. Yet in spite

Of all these new employments of the mindpleasure won, and knowledge not withheld,

There was an inner falling off. off I loved,

Loved deeply, deeply all that I had been loved before,

More deeply even than ever; ever: but a swarm

Of heady thoughts schemes jostling each other, gawds

And feast and dance dance, and public revelryrevelry,

And sports and games less pleasing (too grateful in themselvesthemselves,

Yet in themselves less grateful, I believe,

Than as they were a badge, badge glossy and fresh,fresh

Of manliness and freedom these did nowfreedom) all conspired

Seduce me To lure my mind from the firm habitual quest

Of feeding pleasures, from that eager zeal,to depress the zeal

Those And damp those yearnings which had every day once been mine,mine

A wild, unworldly-minded youth, given up

To Nature and to books, or, at the most,

From time to time by inclination shipped

One among many, in societies

That were, or seemed, as simple as myself.

But now was come a change it his own eager thoughts. It would demand

Some skill, and longer time than may be spared,spared

To paint even to myself these vanities,

And vanities, and how they wrought but sure it is that now

Contagious air did oft environ me,wrought

Unknown among these In haunts in former days.where they, till now, had been unknown.

The It seemed the very garments that I wore appearedwore

To prey upon Preyed on my strength, and stopped the course

And quiet stream of self-forgetfulness.

Something there was about me that perplexedstream

Th' authentic sight of reason, pressed too closelyOf self-forgetfulness.

On Yes, that religious dignity of mind

That is the very faculty of truth,

Which wanting either, from the very first

A function never lighted up, or else

Extinguished man, a creature great and good,

Seems but a pageant plaything with vile claws,

And this great frame of breathing elements

A senseless idol.

This vague heartless chacechase

Of trivial pleasures was a poor exchange

For books and Nature nature at that early age.

'Tis true, some casual knowledge might be gained

Of character or life; but at that time,

Of manners put to school I took small note,

And all my deeper passions lay elsewhere—

Far better had it been to exalt the mind

By solitary study, to uphold

Intense desire by thought and quietness.elsewhere.

Far better had it been to exalt the mind

By solitary study, to uphold

Intense desire through meditative peace;

And yet, in for chastisement of these regrets,

The memory of one particular hour

Doth here rise up against me. In 'Mid a throng,throng

A festal company of Of maids and youths,

Old men youths, old men, and matrons, staid, promiscuous rout,matrons staid,

A medley of all tempers, I had passed

The night in dancing, gaiety gaiety, and mirth—

With din of instruments, and shuffling feet,

And glancing forms, and tapers glittering,

And unaimed prattle flying up and down,

Spirits upon the stretch, and here and there

Slight shocks of young love-liking interspersed

That mounted up like joy into the head,

And tingled through the veins. mirth,

With din of instruments and shuffling feet,

And glancing forms, and tapers glittering,

And unaimed prattle flying up and down;

Spirits upon the stretch, and here and there

Slight shocks of young love-liking interspersed,

Whose transient pleasure mounted to the head,

And tingled through the veins. Ere we retiredretired,

The cock had crowed, and now the sky was bright with day;eastern sky

Two miles I had to walk along Was kindling, not unseen, from humble copse

And open field, through which the fieldspathway wound,

Before I reached And homeward led my home. steps. Magnificent

The morning was, a rose, in memorable pomp,

More glorious than Glorious as e'er I ever had beheld.beheld in front,

The sea was lay laughing at a distance; allnear,

The solid montains were as mountains shone, bright as the clouds,

Grain-tinctured, drenched in empyrean light;

And in the meadows and the lower grounds

Was all the sweetness of a common dawn—

Dews, vapours, and the melody of birds,

And labourers going forth into the fields.—

Dews, vapours, and the melody of birds,

And labourers going forth to till the fields.

Ah, Ah! need I say, dear friend, Friend! that to the brim

My heart was full? full; I made no vows, but vows

Were then made for me; bond unknown to me

Was given, that I should be be, else sinning greatly—

A dedicated spirit. greatly,

A dedicated Spirit. On I walked

In thankful blessedness, which even yet remains.survives.

Strange rendezvous my rendezvous! My mind was at that time,time

A party-coloured shew parti-coloured show of grave and gay,

Solid and light, short-sighted and profound,profound;

Of considerate inconsiderate habits and sedate,

Consorting in one mansion unreproved.

The worth I knew the worth of powers that which I possessed,

Though slighted and too oft misused. Besides in truthBesides,

That summer, swarming as it did with thoughts

Transient and loose, yet wanted idle, lacked not a storeintervals

Of primitive hours, when by these hindrancesWhen Folly from the frown of fleeting Time

Unthwarted I Shrunk, and the mind experienced in myselfherself

Conformity as just as that of old

To the end and written spirit of God's works,

Whether held forth in Nature or in man.

From many wanderings that have left behind

Remembrances not lifeless, I will here

Single out one, then pass to other themes.Man,

A favorite pleasure hath it been with meThrough pregnant vision, separate or conjoined.

From time of earliest youth to walk aloneWhen from our better selves we have too long

Along the public way, when, for Been parted by the nighthurrying world, and droop,

Deserted, in Sick of its silence it assumes

A character business, of deeper quietness

Than pathless solitudes. At such an hourits pleasures tired,

Once, ere these summer months were passed away,How gracious, how benign, is Solitude;

I slowly mounted up How potent a steep ascent

Where the road's wat'ry surface, to the ridgemere image of her sway;

Of that sharp rising, glittered in Most potent when impressed upon the moon

And seemed before my eyes another streammind

Creeping with silent lapse to join the brookWith an appropriate human centre hermit,

That murmured Deep in the valley. On I went

Tranquil, receiving in my own despitebosom of the wilderness;

Amusement, as I slowly passed along,Votary (in vast cathedral, where no foot

From such near objects as from time to timeIs treading, where no other face is seen)

Perforce intruded Kneeling at prayers; or watchman on the listless sense,

Quiescent and disposed to sympathy,top

With an exhausted mind worn out Of lighthouse, beaten by toilAtlantic waves;

And all unworthy of Or as the deeper joy

Which waits on distant prospect cliff or sea,

The dark blue vault and universe soul of stars.that great Power is met

Thus did I steal along that silent Sometimes embodied on a public road,

My body from When, for the stillness drinking innight deserted, it assumes

A restoration like the calm character of sleep,quiet more profound

But sweeter far. Above, before, behind,Than pathless wastes.

Around me, all was peace and solitude;Once, when those summer months

I looked not round, nor did the solitudeWere flown, and autumn brought its annual show

Speak to my eye, but it was heard and felt,Of oars with oars contending, sails with sails,

O happy state! what beauteous pictures nowUpon Winander's spacious breast, it chanced

Rose in harmonious imagery; they roseThat after I had left a flower-decked room

As from some distant region of my soul(Whose in-door pastime, lighted up, survived

And came along like dreams yet such as leftTo a late hour), and spirits overwrought

Obscurely mingled with their passing formsWere making night do penance for a day

A consciousness Spent in a round of animal delight,strenuous idleness—

My homeward course led up a long ascent,

Where the road's watery surface, to the top

Of that sharp rising, glittered to the moon

And bore the semblance of another stream

Stealing with silent lapse to join the brook

That murmured in the vale. All else was still;

A self-possession felt No living thing appeared in every pauseearth or air,

And every gentle movement of my frame.And, save the flowing water's peaceful voice,

While thus I wandered, step by step led on,Sound there was none but, lo! an uncouth shape,

It chanced Shown by a sudden turning of the road

Presented to my view an uncouth shape,road,

So near that, slipping back into the shade

Of a thick hawthorn, I could mark him well,

Myself unseen. He was of stature tall,

A foot span above man's common measure measure, tall,

Stiff in his form, and upright, lank Stiff, lank, and lean—

A man more meagre, as it seemed to me,

Was never seen abroad by night or day.upright; a more meagre man

His arms Was never seen before by night or day.

Long were long, and bare his arms, pallid his hands; his mouth

Shewed Looked ghastly in the moonlight; moonlight: from behind,

A milestone mile-stone propped him, and his figure seemed

Half sitting, and half standing. him; I could markalso ken

That he was clad clothed in military garb,

Though faded faded, yet entire. He was alone,Companionless,

Had No dog attending, by no attendant, neither dog, nor staff,staff sustained,

Nor knapsack; He stood, and in his very dress appeared

A desolation, a simplicity

That seemed akin to solitude. Long timesimplicity,

Did I peruse him with To which the trappings of a mingled sensegaudy world

Of fear and sorrow. Make a strange back-ground. From his lips meanwhilelips, ere long,

There issued murmuring Issued low muttered sounds, as if of pain

Or of some uneasy thought; yet still his form

Kept the same steadiness, and awful steadiness at his feet

His shadow lay, and moved not. In a glen

Hard by, a village stood, whose roofs and doors

Were visible among the scattered trees,

Scarce distant from the spot an arrow's flight.

I wished to see him move, but he remained

Fixed to his place, and still from time to time

Sent forth a murmuring voice of dead complaint,

Groans scarcely audible. Without From self-blame

Not wholly free, I had not thus prolonged my watch; and now,watched him thus; at length

Subduing my heart's specious cowardise,cowardice,

I left the shady nook where I had stood

And hailed him. Slowly from his resting-place

He rose, and with a lean and wasted arm

In measured gesture lifted to his head

Returned my salutation, salutation; then resumed

His station as before. And before; and when erelongI asked

I asked his His history, he the veteran, in replyreply,

Was neither slow nor eager, eager; but, unmoved,

And with a quiet uncomplaining voice,

A stately air of mild indifference,

He told in simple few plain words a soldier's tale:tale

That in the tropic islands Tropic Islands he had served,

Whence he had landed scarcely ten days past.—

That on his landing he had been dismissed,

And now was travelling to his native home.

At this I turned and looked towards the village,

But all were gone to rest, the fires all out,

And every silent window to the moon

Shone with a yellow glitter. 'No one there',

Said I, 'is waking; we must measure back

The way which we have come. Behind yon woodthree weeks past;

A labourer dwells, and, take it That on my word,

He will not murmur should we break his rest,landing he had been dismissed,

And with a ready heart will give you foodnow was travelling towards his native home.

And lodging for the night.' At this he stooped,This heard, I said, in pity, "Come with me."

And He stooped, and straightway from the ground took up an oaken staffup

By An oaken staff by me yet unobserved, a traveller's staffunobserved—

A staff which must have dropped from his slack hand

And lay till now neglected in the grass.

Which I suppose from Though weak his slack hand had dropped,

And lain till now neglected in the grass.

Towards the cottage without more delay

We shaped our course. As it appeared to mestep and cautious, he appeared

He travelled To travel without pain, and I beheldbeheld,

With ill-suppressed an astonishment his tallbut ill suppressed,

And ghastly His ghostly figure moving at my side;

Nor could I, while we journeyed thus could I thus, forbear

To question him of what he had enduredturn from present hardships to the past,

From hardship, And speak of war, battle, and pestilence,

Sprinkling this talk with questions, better spared,

On what he might himself have seen or the pestilence.felt.

He all the while was in demeanor demeanour calm,

Concise in answer. Solemn answer; solemn and sublime

He might have seemed, but that in all he said

There was a strange half-absence, and a tone

Of weakness and indifference, as of one

Remembering Knowing too well the importance of his themetheme,

But feeling it no longer. We advancedOur discourse

Slowly, Soon ended, and ere we to the wood were come

Discourse had ceased. Together together on we passed

In silence through the shades, a wood gloomy and dark;still.

Then, turning up Up-turning, then, along an open field,

We gained the reached a cottage. At the door I knocked,

Calling aloud, 'My friend, here is a man

By sickness overcome. Beneath your roofAnd earnestly to charitable care

This night let him find rest, and give Commended him foodas a poor friendless man,

If food he need, for he is faint Belated and tired.'by sickness overcome.

Assured that now my comrade the traveller would repose

In comfort, I entreated that henceforth

He would not linger in the public ways,

But ask for timely furtherance, furtherance and help

Such as his state required. At this reproof,

With the same ghastly mildness in his look,

He said, 'My "My trust is in the God of Heaven,

And in the eye of him that who passes me.'me!"

The cottage door was speedily unlocked,unbarred,

And now the soldier touched his hat againonce more

With his lean hand, and in a voice that seemedfaltering voice,

To speak with a Whose tone bespake reviving interest,interests

'Till Till then unfelt, he thanked me; I returned

The farewell blessing of the poor unhappy patient man,

And so we parted. Back I cast a look,

And lingered near the door a little space,

Then sought with quiet heart my distant home.