Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/44

18 Amid the roar of torrents, where they send

From hollow clefts up to the clearer air

A cloud of mist, which in the sunshine frames

A lasting tablet—for the observer's eye

Varying it's rainbow hues. But vainly thus,

And vainly by all other means, he strove

To mitigate the fever of his heart.

In dreams, in study, and in ardent thought,

Thus, even from Childhood upward, was he reared;

For intellectual progress wanting much,

Doubtless, of needful help—yet gaining more;

And every moral feeling of his soul

Strengthened and braced, by breathing in content

The keen, the wholesome air of poverty,

And drinking from the well of homely life.

—But, from past liberty, and tried restraints,

He now was summoned to select the course

Of humble industry which promised best

To yield him no unworthy maintenance.

The Mother strove to make her Son perceive

With what advantage he might teach a School