Page:Poems by William Wordsworth (1815) Volume 2.djvu/62

54 I looked upon the hill both far and near,

More doleful place did never eye survey;

It seemed as if the spring-time came not here,

And Nature here were willing to decay.

I stood in various thoughts and fancies lost,

When one, who was in Shepherd's garb attired,

Came up the Hollow:—Him did I accost,

And what this place might be I then inquired.

The Shepherd stopped, and that same story told

Which in my former rhyme I have rehearsed.

"A jolly place," said he, "in times of old!

But something ails it now; the spot is curst.

You see these lifeless Stumps of aspen wood—

Some say that they are beeches, others elms—

These were the Bower; and here a Mansion stood,

The finest palace of a hundred realms!

The Arbour does its own condition tell;

You see the Stones, the Fountain, and the Stream;

But as to the great Lodge! you might as well

Hunt half a day for a forgotten dream.