Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/355

329 Of rural labours; the steep mountain-side

Ascended with his staff and faithful dog;

The plough he guided, and the scythe he swayed;

And the ripe corn before his sickle fell

Among the jocund reapers. For himself,

All watchful and industrious as he was,

He wrought not; neither field nor flock he owned:

No wish for wealth had place within his mind;

Nor husband's love, nor father's hope or care.

Though born a younger Brother, need was none

That from the floor of his paternal home

He should depart, to plant himself anew.

And when, mature in manhood, he beheld

His Parents laid in earth, no loss ensued

Of rights to him; but he remained well pleased,

By the pure bond of independent love

An inmate of a second family,

The fellow-labourer and friend of him

To whom the small inheritance had fallen.

—Nor deem that his mild presence was a weight

That pressed upon his Brother's house, for books

Were ready comrades whom he could not tire,—

Of whose society the blameless Man