Page:Poems by William Wordsworth (1815) Volume 1.djvu/202

142 He saw me, and he turned aside,

As if he wished himself to hide:

Then with his coat he made essay

To wipe those briny tears away.

I followed him, and said, "My Friend,

What ails you? wherefore weep you so?"

—"Shame on me, Sir! this lusty Lamb,

He makes my tears to flow.

To-day I fetched him from the rock;

He is the last of all my flock.

When I was young, a single Man,

And after youthful follies ran,

Though little given to care and thought,

Yet, so it was, a Ewe I bought;

And other sheep from her I raised,

As healthy sheep as you might see;

And then I married, and was rich

As I could wish to be;

Of sheep I numbered a full score,

And every year increased my store.