Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/37

11 The liveliness of dreams. Nor did he fail,

While yet a Child, with a Child's eagerness

Incessantly to turn his ear and eye

On all things which the moving seasons brought

To feed such appetite: nor this alone

Appeased his yearning:—in the after day

Of Boyhood, many an hour in caves forlorn,

And 'mid the hollow depths of naked crags

He sate, and even in their fix'd lineaments,

Or from the power of a peculiar eye,

Or by creative feeling overborne,

Or by predominance of thought oppress'd,

Even in their fix'd and steady lineaments

He traced an ebbing and a flowing mind,

Expression ever varying!

Thus informed,

He had small need of books; for many a Tale

Traditionary, round the mountains hung,

And many a Legend, peopling the dark woods,

Nourished Imagination in her growth,

And gave the Mind that apprehensive power

By which she is made quick to recognize