Page:Lyrical ballads, Volume 2, Wordsworth, 1800.djvu/142

134 And fade, unseen by any human eye,

Where fairy water-breaks do murmur on

For ever, and I saw the sparkling foam,

And with my cheek on one of those green stones

That, fleec'd with moss, beneath the shady trees,

Lay round me scatter'd like a flock of sheep,

I heard the murmur and the murmuring sound,

In that sweet mood when pleasure loves to pay

Tribute to ease, and, of its joy secure

The heart luxuriates with indifferent things,

Wasting its kindliness on stocks and stones,

And on the vacant air. Then up I rose,

And dragg'd to earth both branch and bough, with crash

And merciless ravage; and the shady nook

Of hazels, and the green and mossy bower

Deform'd and sullied, patiently gave up

Their quiet being: and unless I now

Confound my present feelings with the past,

Even then, when from the bower I turn'd away,

Exulting, rich beyond the wealth of kings