Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/68

42 Which with a look of welcome She received;

And I exhorted her to have her trust

In God's good love, and seek his help by prayer.

I took my staff, and when I kissed her babe

The tears stood in her eyes. I left her then

With the best hope and comfort I could give;

She thanked me for my wish;—but for my hope

Methought she did not thank me.

I returned,

And took my rounds along this road again

Ere on its sunny bank the primrose flower

Peeped forth, to give an earnest of the Spring.

I found her sad and drooping; she had learned

No tidings of her Husband; if he lived

She knew not that he lived; if he were dead

She knew not he was dead. She seem'd the same

In person and appearance; but her House

Bespake a sleepy hand of negligence.

The floor was neither dry nor neat, the hearth

Was comfortless, and her small lot of books,

Which, in the Cottage window, heretofore

Had been piled up against the corner panes

In seemly order, now, with straggling leaves