Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/41

15 Seemed infinite; and there his spirit shaped

Her prospects, nor did he believe,—he saw.

What wonder if his being thus became

Sublime and comprehensive! Low desires,

Low thoughts had there no place; yet was his heart

Lowly; for he was meek in gratitude,

Oft as he called those extacies to mind,

And whence they flowed; and from them he acquired

Wisdom, which works through patience; thence he learned

In many a calmer hour of sober thought

To look on Nature with a humble heart,

Self-questioned where it did not understand,

And with a superstitious eye of love.

So passed the time; yet to a neighbouring town

He duly went with what small overplus

His earnings might supply, and brought away

The Book which most had tempted his desires

While at the Stall he read. Among the hills

He gazed upon that mighty Orb of Song

The divine Milton. Lore of different kind,

The annual savings of a toilsome life,

His Step-father supplied; books that explain