Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/50

24 To his fraternal sympathy addressed,

Obtain reluctant hearing.

Plain his garb

Such as might suit a rustic sire, prepared

For sabbath duties; yet he was a Man

Whom no one could have passed without remark.

Active and nervous was his gait; his limbs

And his whole figure breathed intelligence.

Time had compressed the freshness of his cheek

Into a narrower circle of deep red

But had not tamed his eye; that under brows

Shaggy and grey had meanings which it brought

From years of youth; which, like a Being made

Of many Beings, he had wondrous skill

To blend with knowledge of the years to come,

Human, or such as lie beyond the grave.