With thought.—­He is insensibly subdued
  To settled quiet:  he is one by whom
  All effort seems forgotten; one to whom
  Long patience hath [1] such mild composure given, 10
  That patience now doth seem a thing of which
  He hath no need.  He is by nature led
  To peace so perfect that the young behold
  With envy, what the Old Man hardly feels. [2]

* * * * *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1: 

1805.

    ...has... 1798.]

[Variant 2: 

1815.

   —­I asked him whither he was bound, and what
    The object of his journey; he replied
    “Sir!  I am going many miles to take
    A last leave of my son, a mariner,
    Who from a sea-fight has been brought to Falmouth,
    And there is dying in an hospital.” 1798.

... he replied That he was going many miles to take A last leave of his son, a mariner, Who from a sea-fight had been brought to Falmouth, And there was dying [i] in an hospital. 1800 to 1805.]

* * * * *

SUB-FOOTNOTE ON THE VARIANT

[Sub-Footnote i:  The edition of 1800 has “lying,” evidently a misprint.—­Ed.]

* * * * *

APPENDIX

I

The following is the full text of the original edition of ’Descriptive
Sketches’, first published in 1793: 

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES

IN VERSE. 
TAKEN DURING A
PEDESTRIAN TOUR
IN THE
ITALIAN, GRISON, SWISS, AND SAVOYARD
ALPS.  BY
W. WORDSWORTH, B.A. 
OF ST. JOHN’S, CAMBRIDGE. 
“LOCA PASTORUM DESERTA ATQUE OTIA DIA.” 
‘Lucret’. 
“CASTELLA IN TUMULIS—­
ET LONGE SALTUS LATEQUE VACANTES.” 
‘Virgil’. 
LONDON: 
PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL’S CHURCH-YARD.
1793.

TO THE REV.  ROBERT JONES, FELLOW OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

Dear sir, However desirous I might have been of giving you proofs of the high place you hold in my esteem, I should have been cautious of wounding your delicacy by thus publicly addressing you, had not the circumstance of my having accompanied you amongst the Alps, seemed to give this dedication a propriety sufficient to do away any scruples which your modesty might otherwise have suggested.

In inscribing this little work to you I consult my heart.  You know well how great is the difference between two companions lolling in a post chaise, and two travellers plodding slowly along the road, side by side, each with his little knap-sack of necessaries upon his shoulders.  How much more of heart between the two latter!