Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/152

126 As from the pinnacle of worldly state

Wretched Ambition drops astounded, fell

Into a gulph obscure of silent grief,

And keen heart-anguish—of itself ashamed,

Yet obstinately cherishing itself:

And, so consumed, She melted from my arms;

And left me, on this earth, disconsolate.

What followed cannot be reviewed in thought;

Much less, retraced in words. If She, of life

Blameless; so intimate with love and joy,

And all the tender motions of the Soul,

Had been supplanted, could I hope to stand?

Infirm, dependant, and now destitute!

I called on dreams and visions, to disclose

That which is veiled from waking thought; conjured

Eternity, as men constrain a Ghost

To appear and answer; to the Grave I spake

Imploringly;—looked up, and asked the Heavens

If Angels traversed their cerulean floors,

If fixed or wandering Star could tidings yield

Of the departed Spirit—what Abode

It occupies—what consciousness retains