Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/287

261 —He vanish'd; but conspicuous to this day

The Path remains that linked his Cottage-door

To the Mine's mouth; a long, and slanting track,

Upon the rugged mountain's stony side,

Worn by his daily visits to and from

The darksome centre of a constant hope.

This Vestige, neither force of beating rain,

Nor the vicissitudes of frost and thaw

Shall cause to fade, 'till ages pass away;

And it is named, in memory of the event,

The ."

"Thou, from whom

Man has his strength," exclaimed the Wanderer, "oh!

Do Thou direct it!—to the Virtuous grant

The penetrative eye which can perceive

In this blind world the guiding vein of hope,

That, like this Labourer, such may dig their way,

"Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified;"

Grant to the Wise his firmness of resolve!"

"That prayer were not superfluous," said the Priest,

"Amid the noblest relics, proudest Dust,

That Westminster, for Britain's glory, holds,