Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/337

311 —Whence comes it, then, that yonder we behold

Five graves, and only five, that lie apart,

Unsociable company and sad;

And, furthermore, appearing to encroach

On the smooth play-ground of the Village-school?"

The Vicar answered. "No disdainful pride

In them who rest beneath, nor any course

Of strange or tragic accident, hath helped

To place those Hillocks in that lonely guise.

—Once more look forth, and follow with your eyes

The length of road which from yon mountain's base

Through bare enclosures stretches, 'till its line

Is lost among a little tuft of trees,—

Then, reappearing in a moment, quits

The cultured fields,—and up the heathy waste

Mounts, as you see, in mazes serpentine,

Towards an easy outlet of the Vale.

—That little shady spot, that sylvan tuft,

By which the road is hidden, also hides

A Cottage from our view,—though I discern,

(Ye scarcely can) amid its sheltering trees,

The smokeless chimney-top.—All unembowered