Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/404

378 From infant conning of the Christ-cross-row,

Or puzzling through a Primer, line by line,

Till perfect mastery crown the pains at last.

—What kindly warmth from touch of fostering hand,

What penetrating power of sun or breeze,

Shall e'er dissolve the crust wherein his soul

Sleeps, like a caterpillar sheathed in ice?

This torpor is no pitiable work

Of modern ingenuity; no Town

Nor crowded City may be taxed with aught

Of sottish vice or desperate breach of law,

To which in after years he may be rouzed.

—This Boy the Fields produce: his spade and hoe,

The Carter's whip which on his shoulder rests

In air high-towering with a boorish pomp,

The sceptre of his sway; his Country's name,

Her equal rights, her churches and her schools,

What have they done for him? And, let me ask,

For tens of thousands uninformed as he?

In brief, what liberty of mind is here?"

This cheerful sally pleased the mild good Man,

To whom the appeal couched in those closing words