Page:Poems by William Wordsworth (1815) Volume 1.djvu/182

122 Oft did we see him driving full in view

At mid-day when the sun was shining bright;

What ill was on him, what he had to do,

A mighty wonder bred among our quiet crew.

Ah! piteous sight it was to see this man

When he came back to us, a withered flower,—

Or like a sinful creature, pale and wan.

Down would he sit; and without strength or power

Look at the common grass from hour to hour:

And oftentimes, how long I fear to say,

Where apple-trees in blossom made a bower,

Retired in that sunshiny shade he lay;

And, like a naked Indian, slept himself away.

Great wonder to our gentle Tribe it was

Whenever from our Valley he withdrew;

For happier soul no living creature has

Than he had, being here the long day through.

Some thought he was a lover, and did woo:

Some thought far worse of him, and judged him wrong:

But Verse was what he had been wedded to;

And his own mind did like a tempest strong

Come to him thus, and drove the weary Wight along.