Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/297

271 Daily, its Bowling-green with harmless strife;

Plagued with uncharitable thoughts the Church;

And vexed the Market-place. But in the breasts

Of these Opponents gradually was wrought,

With little change of general sentiment,

Such change towards each other, that their days

By choice were spent in constant fellowship;

And if, at times, they fretted with the yoke,

Those very bickerings made them love it more.

A favourite boundary to their lengthened walks

This Church-yard was. And, whether they had come

Treading their path in sympathy and linked

In social converse, or by some short space

Discreetly parted to preserve the peace,

One Spirit seldom failed to extend its sway

Over both minds, when they awhile had marked

The visible quiet of this holy ground

And breathed its soothing air;—the Spirit of hope

And saintly magnanimity; that, spurning

The field of selfish difference and dispute,

And every care which transitory things,

Earth, and the kingdoms of the earth, create,