Page:Poems by William Wordsworth (1815) Volume 1.djvu/272

212 But soon as Luke, full ten years old, could stand

Against the mountain blasts, and to the heights,

Not fearing toil, nor length of weary ways,

He with his Father daily went, and they

Were as companions, why should I relate

That objects which the Shepherd loved before

Were dearer now? that from the Boy there came

Feelings and emanations,—things which were

Light to the sun and music to the wind;

And that the Old Man's heart seemed born again.

Thus in his Father's sight the Boy grew up:

And now when he had reached his eighteenth year,

He was his comfort and his daily hope.

in this sort the simple Household lived

From day to day, to Michael's ear there came

Distressful tidings. Long before the time

Of which I speak, the Shepherd had been bound

In surety for his Brother's Son, a man

Of an industrious life, and ample means,—

But unforeseen misfortunes suddenly

Had pressed upon him,—and old Michael now