Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/412

386 Be likened? She whose countenance and air

Unite the graceful qualities of both,

Even as she shares the pride and joy of both.

My grey-haired Friend was moved; his vivid eye

Glistened with tenderness; his Mind, I knew,

Was full; and had, I doubted not, returned,

Upon this impulse, to the theme—erewhile

Abruptly broken-off. The ruddy Boys

Did now withdraw to take their well-earned meal;

And he—(to whom all tongues resigned their rights

With willingness, to whom the general ear

Listened with readier patience than to strain

Of music, lute or harp,—a long delight

That ceased not when his voice had ceased) as One

Who from truth's central point serenely views

The compass of his argument,—began

Mildly, and with a clear and steady tone.

END OF THE EIGHTH BOOK.