Page:Poems by William Wordsworth (1815) Volume 2.djvu/285

277 Meanwhile were mine; till, one bright April day,

By chance retiring from the glare of noon

To this forsaken covert, there I found

A hoary path-way traced between the trees,

And winding on with such an easy line

Along a natural opening, that I stood

Much wondering at my own simplicity

How I could e'er have made a fruitless search

For what was now so obvious. At the sight

Conviction also flashed upon my mind

That this same path (within the shady grove

Begun and ended) by my Brother's steps

Had been impressed.—To sojourn a short while

Beneath my roof He from the barren seas

Had newly come—a cherished Visitant!

And much did it delight me to perceive

That, to this opportune recess allured,

He had surveyed it with a finer eye,

A heart more wakeful; that, more loth to part

From place so lovely, he had worn the track

By pacing here, unwearied and alone,

In that habitual restlessness of foot

With which the Sailor measures o'er and o'er

His short domain upon the Vessel's deck,

While she is travelling through the dreary Sea.