Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/443

417 This dire perverseness, cannot choose but ask,

Shall it endure?—Shall enmity and strife,

Falsehood and guile, be left to sow their seed;

And the kind never perish? Is the hope

Fallacious, or shall Righteousness obtain

A peaceable dominion, wide as earth

And ne'er to fail? Shall that blest day arrive

When they, whose choice or lot it is to dwell

In crowded cities, without fear shall live

Studious of mutual benefit; and he,

Whom morning wakes, among sweet dews and flowers

Of every clime, to till the lonely field,

Be happy in himself?—The law of faith

Working through love, such conquest shall it gain,

Such triumph over sin and guilt achieve?

Almighty Lord, thy further grace impart!

And with that help the wonder shall be seen

Fulfilled, the hope accomplished; and thy praise

Be sung with transport and unceasing joy.

Once, while the Name, Jehovah, was a sound,

Within the circuit of this sea-girt isle,