Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/130

104 With sparkling mineral, or should chrystal tube

Be lodged therein—and thinks himself enriched,

Wealthier, and doubtless wiser, than before!

Entrusted safely—each to his pursuit,

This earnest Pair may range from hill to hill,

And, if it please them, speed from clime to clime;

The mind is full—no pain is in their sport."

"Then," said I, interposing, "One is near

Who cannot but possess in your esteem

Place worthier still of envy. May I name,

Without offence, that fair-faced Cottage-boy?

Dame Nature's Pupil of the lowest Form,

Youngest Apprentice in the School of Art!

Him, as we entered from the open Glen,

You might have noticed, busily engaged,

Heart, soul, and hands,—in mending the defects

Left in the fabric of a leaky dam,

Framed for enabling this penurious stream

To turn a slender mill (that new-made plaything)

For his delight—the happiest he of all!"

"Far happiest," answered the desponding Man,