press—­[15]
  Then, while I wandered where the huddling rill
  Brightens with water-breaks the hollow ghyll [F] [16] 55
  As by enchantment, an obscure retreat [17]
  Opened at once, and stayed my devious feet. 
  While thick above the rill the branches close,
  In rocky basin its wild waves repose,
  Inverted shrubs, [G] and moss of gloomy green, 60
  Cling from the rocks, with pale wood-weeds between;
  And its own twilight softens the whole scene, [H]
  Save where aloft the subtle sunbeams shine
  On withered briars that o’er the crags recline; [18]
  Save where, with sparkling foam, a small cascade, 65
  Illumines, from within, the leafy shade; [19]
  Beyond, along the vista of the brook,
  Where antique roots its bustling course [20] o’erlook,
  The eye reposes on a secret bridge [J]
  Half grey, half shagged with ivy to its ridge; 70
  There, bending o’er the stream, the listless swain
  Lingers behind his disappearing wain. [21]
 —­Did Sabine grace adorn my living line,
  Blandusia’s praise, wild stream, should yield to thine! 
  Never shall ruthless minister of death 75
  ’Mid thy soft glooms the glittering steel unsheath;
  No goblets shall, for thee, be crowned with flowers,
  No kid with piteous outcry thrill thy bowers;
  The mystic shapes that by thy margin rove
  A more benignant sacrifice approve—­ 80
  A mind, that, in a calm angelic mood
  Of happy wisdom, meditating good,
  Beholds, of all from her high powers required,
  Much done, and much designed, and more desired,—­
  Harmonious thoughts, a soul by truth refined, 85
  Entire affection for all human kind.

    Dear Brook, [22] farewell!  To-morrow’s noon again
  Shall hide me, wooing long thy wildwood strain;
  But now the sun has gained his western road,
  And eve’s mild hour invites my steps abroad. 90

    While, near the midway cliff, the silvered kite
  In many a whistling circle wheels her flight;
  Slant watery lights, from parting clouds, apace
  Travel along the precipice’s base;
  Cheering its naked waste of scattered stone, 95
  By lichens grey, and scanty moss, o’ergrown;
  Where scarce the foxglove peeps, or [23] thistle’s beard;
  And restless [24] stone-chat, all day long, is heard.

    How pleasant, as the sun declines, to view [25]
  The spacious landscape change in form and hue! 100
  Here, vanish, as in mist, before a flood
  Of bright obscurity, hill, lawn, and wood;
  There, objects, by the searching beams betrayed,
  Come forth, and here retire in purple shade;
  Even the white stems of birch, the cottage white, 105