“Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,
        The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
    And ’tis my faith that every flower
        Enjoys the air it breathes.

    “The birds around me hopp’d and play’d,
        Their thoughts I cannot measure:—­
    But the least motion that they made,
        It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

    “The budding twigs spread out their fan,
        To catch the breezy air;
    And I must think, do all I can,
        That there was pleasure there.

    “If this belief from heaven be sent,
        If such be Nature’s holy plan,
    Have I not reason to lament
        What man has made of man?”

The book was not a success.  People did not understand The Ancient Mariner, and they laughed at Wordsworth’s simple lyrics, although the last poem in the book, Tintern Abbey, has since become famous, and is acknowledged as one of the treasures of our literature.

And now, as this new book was not a success, and as he did not seem able to make enough money as a poet, Coleridge seriously began to think of becoming a Unitarian preacher altogether.  But, the Wedgwoods, the famous potters, wealthy men with cultured minds and kindly hearts, offered him one hundred and fifty pounds a year if he would give himself up to poetry and philosophy.  After some hesitation, Coleridge consented, and that winter he set off for a visit to Germany with the Wordsworths.

It was on their return from this visit that Wordsworth again changed his home and went to live at Dove Cottage, near Grasmere, in the Lake District, which as a boy he had known and loved.  And here, among the hills, he made his home for the rest of his life.

The days at Grasmere flowed along peacefully and almost without an event.  Wordsworth published a second volume of lyrical ballads, and then went on writing and working steadily at his long poem The Prelude, in which he told the story of his early life.

Coleridge soon followed his friend, and settled at Greta Hall, Keswick, and there was much coming and going between Dove Cottage and Greta Hall.  At Greta Hall there were two houses under one roof, and soon Southey took the second house and came to live beside his brother-in-law, Coleridge.  And so these three poets, having thus drifted together, came to be called the Lake Poets, although Southey’s poetry had little in common with that of either Wordsworth or Coleridge.

It seemed hardly to break the peaceful flow of life at Dove Cottage, when, in 1802, Wordsworth married his old playmate and schoolfellow, Mary Hutchinson.  They had known each other all their lives, and marriage was a natural and lovely ending to their friendship.  Of her Wordsworth wrote—­