Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/276

250 In beauty of Holiness, with order'd pomp,

Decent, and unreproved. The voice, that greets

The majesty of both, shall pray for both;

That, mutually protected and sustained,

They may endure as long as sea surrounds

This favoured Land, or sunshine warms her soil.

—And, O, ye swelling hills, and spacious plains!

Besprent from shore to shore with steeple-towers,

And spires whose "silent finger points to Heaven;"

Nor wanting, at wide intervals, the bulk

Of ancient Minster, lifted above the cloud

Of the dense air, which town or city breeds

To intercept the sun's glad beams—may ne'er

That true succession fail of English Hearts,

That can perceive, not less than heretofore

Our Ancestors did feelingly perceive,

What in those holy Structures ye possess

Of ornamental interest, and the charm

Of pious sentiment diffused afar,

And human charity, and social love.

—Thus never shall the indignities of Time

Approach their reverend graces, unopposed;

Nor shall the Elements be free to hurt