Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/239

213 Or of the end stops short, proposed to all

At its aspiring outset. Mark the Babe

Not long accustomed to this breathing world;

One that hath barely learned to shape a smile,

Though yet irrational of Soul to grasp

With tiny fingers, to let fall a tear,

And, as the heavy cloud of sleep dissolves,

To stretch his limbs, bemocking, as might seem,

The outward functions of intelligent Man;

A grave Proficient in amusive feats

Of puppetry, that from the lap declare

His expectations, and announce his claims

To that inheritance which millions rue

That they were ever born to! In due time

A day of solemn ceremonial comes;

When they, who for this Minor hold in trust

Rights that transcend the unblest heritage

Of mere Humanity, present their Charge,

For this occasion daintily adorned,

At the baptismal Font. And when the pure

And consecrating element hath cleansed

The original stain, the Child is there received

Into the second Ark, Christ's Church, with trust