Suffer my genial spirits to decay: 
  For thou art with me here upon the banks
  Of this fair river; thou my dearest Friend,
  My dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch
  The language of my former heart, and read 120
  My former pleasures in the shooting lights
  Of thy wild eyes, [H] Oh! yet a little while
  May I behold in thee what I was once,
  My dear, dear Sister! and this prayer I make,
  Knowing that Nature never did betray 125
  The heart that loved her; ’tis her privilege,
  Through all the years of this our life, to lead
  From joy to joy:  for she can so inform
  The mind that is within us, so impress
  With quietness and beauty, and so feed 130
  With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
  Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,
  Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all
  The dreary intercourse of daily life,
  Shall e’er prevail against us, or disturb 135
  Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
  Is full of blessings.  Therefore let the moon
  Shine on thee in thy solitary walk;
  And let the misty mountain-winds be free
  To blow against thee:  and, in after years, 140
  When these wild ecstasies shall be matured
  Into a sober pleasure; when thy mind
  Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms,
  Thy memory be as a dwelling-place
  For all sweet sounds and harmonies; oh! then, 145
  If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief,
  Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts
  Of tender joy wilt thou remember me,
  And these my exhortations!  Nor, perchance—­
  If I should be where I no more can hear 150
  Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams
  Of past existence [B]—­wilt thou then forget
  That on the banks of this delightful stream
  We stood together; and that I, so long
  A worshipper of Nature, hither came 155
  Unwearied in that service:  rather say
  With warmer love—­oh! with far deeper zeal
  Of holier love.  Nor wilt thou then forget,
  That after many wanderings, many years
  Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs, 160
  And this green pastoral landscape, were to me
  More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!

* * * * *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1: 

1845.

  ... sweet ... 1798.]

[Variant 2: 

1827.

  Which ... 1798.]

[Variant 3: 

1845.

... with their unripe fruits, Among the woods and copses lose themselves, Nor, with their green and simple hue, disturb The wild green landscape ... 1798.

  Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
  Among the woods and copses, nor disturb 1802.]