Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/36

10 In solitude returning, saw the Hills

Grow larger in the darkness, all alone

Beheld the stars come out above his head,

And travelled through the wood, with no one near

To whom he might confess the things he saw.

So the foundations of his mind were laid.

In such communion, not from terror free,

While yet a Child, and long before his time,

He had perceived the presence and the power

Of greatness; and deep feelings had impress'd

Great objects on his mind, with portraiture

And colour so distinct, that on his mind

They lay like substances, and almost seemed

To haunt the bodily sense. He had received

(Vigorous in native genius as he was)

A precious gift; for, as he grew in years,

With these impressions would he still compare

All his remembrances, thoughts, shapes, and forms;

And, being still unsatisfied with aught

Of dimmer character, he thence attained

An active power to fasten images

Upon his brain; and on their pictured lines

Intensely brooded, even till they acquired