Page:Lyrical ballads, Volume 2, Wordsworth, 1800.djvu/100

92 The TWO THIEVES,

Or the last Stage of AVARICE.

Oh now that the genius of Bewick were mine

And the skill which he learn'd on the Banks of the Tyne;

When the Muses might deal with me just as they chose

For I'd take my last leave both of verse and of prose.

What feats would I work with my magical hand!

Book-learning and books should be banish'd the land

And for hunger and thirst and such troublesome calls

Every ale-house should then have a feast on its walls.