Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/78

52 Him, sleeping or awake, the Robber spared;

He walked—protected from the sword of war

By virtue of that sacred Instrument

His Harp, suspended at the Traveller's side;

His dear Companion wheresoe'er he went

Opening from Land to Land an easy way

By melody, and by the charm of verse.

Yet not the noblest of that honoured Race

Drew happier, loftier, more empassioned thoughts

From his long journeyings and eventful life,

Than this obscure Itinerant (an obscure,

But a high-souled and tender-hearted Man)

Had skill to draw from many a ramble, far

And wide protracted, through the tamer ground

Of these our unimaginative days;

Both while he trod the earth in humblest guise

Accoutred with his burthen and his staff;

And now, when free to move with lighter pace.

What wonder, then, if I, whose favourite School

Hath been the fields, the roads, and rural lanes,

And pathways winding on from farm to farm,

Looked on this Guide with reverential love?