Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/338

312 And naked stood that lowly Parsonage

(For such in truth it is, and appertains

To a small Chapel in the Vale beyond)

When hither came its last Inhabitant.

Rough and forbidding were the choicest roads

By which our Northern wilds could then be crossed;

And into most of these secluded Vales

Was no access for wain, heavy or light.

So, at his Dwelling-place the Priest arrived

With store of household goods, in panniers slung

On sturdy horses graced with jingling bells,

And on the back of more ignoble beast;

That, with like burthen of effects most prized

Or easiest carried, closed the motley train.

Young was I then, a school-boy of eight years;

But still, methinks, I see them as they passed

In order, drawing tow'rds their wished-for home.

—Rocked by the motion of a trusty Ass

Two ruddy Children hung, a well-poised freight,

Each in his basket nodding drowsily;

Their bonnets, I remember, wreathed with flowers

Which told that 'twas the pleasant month of June;