Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/96

70 Bearing a Coffin in the midst, with which

They shaped their course along the sloping side

Of that small Valley; singing as they moved;

A sober company and few, the Men

Bare-headed, and all decently attired!

Some steps when they had thus advanced, the dirge

Ended; and, from the stillness that ensued

Recovering, to my Friend I said, "You spake,

Methought, with apprehension that these rites

Are paid to Him upon whose shy retreat

This day we purposed to intrude."—"I did so.

But let us hence, that we may learn the truth:

Perhaps it is not he but some One else

For whom this pious service is performed;

Some other Tenant of the Solitude."

So, to a steep and difficult descent

Trusting ourselves, we wound from crag to crag,

Where passage could be won; and, as the last

Of the mute train, upon the heathy top

Of that off-sloping Outlet, disappeared,

I, more impatient in the course I took,

Had landed upon easy ground; and there