Page:Poems by William Wordsworth (1815) Volume 1.djvu/171

111 Which stands at the Dale-head. James, tired perhaps,

Or from some other cause, remained behind.

You see yon Precipice—it almost looks

Like some vast building made of many crags;

And in the midst is one particular rock

That rises like a column from the vale,

Whence by our shepherds it is called.

James pointed to its summit, over which

They all had purposed to return together,

And told them that he there would wait for them:

They parted, and his Comrades passed that way

Some two hours after, but they did not find him

Upon the Summit—at the appointed place.

Of this they took no heed: but one of them,

Going by chance, at night, into the house

Which at that time was James's home, there learned

That nobody had seen him all that day:

The morning came, and still he was unheard of:

The neighbours were alarmed, and to the Brook

Some went, and some towards the Lake: ere noon

They found him at the foot of that same Rock—

Dead, and with mangled limbs. The third day after

I buried him, poor Youth, and there he lies!