Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/365

339 From Age, that often unlamented drops,

And mark that daisied hillock, three spans long.

—Seven lusty Sons sate daily round the board

Of Gold-rill side; and when the hope had ceased

Of other progeny, a Daughter then

Was given, the crown and glory of the whole!

Welcomed with joy, whose penetrating power

Was not unfelt amid that heavenly calm

With which by nature every Mother's Soul

Is stricken, in the moment when her throes

Are ended, and her ears have heard the cry

Which tells her that a living Child is born,—

And she lies conscious in a blissful rest

That the dread storm is weathered by them both.

—The Father—Him at this unlooked-for gift

A bolder transport seizes. From the side

Of his bright hearth, and from his open door,

And from the laurel-shaded seat thereby,

Day after day the gladness is diffused

To all that come, and almost all that pass;

Invited, summoned, to partake the cheer

Spread on the never-empty board, and drink

Health and good wishes to his new-born Girl,