Page:The Prelude, Wordsworth, 1850.djvu/116

94 I read, without design, the opinions, thoughts,

Of those plain-living people now observed

With clearer knowledge; with another eye

I saw the quiet woodman in the woods,

The shepherd roam the hills. With new delight,

This chiefly, did I note my grey-haired Dame;

Saw her go forth to church or other work

Of state, equipped in monumental trim;

Short velvet cloak, (her bonnet of the like),

A mantle such as Spanish Cavaliers

Wore in old time. Her smooth domestic life,

Affectionate without disquietude,

Her talk, her business, pleased me; and no less

Her clear though shallow stream of piety

That ran on Sabbath days a fresher course;

With thoughts unfelt till now I saw her read

Her Bible on hot Sunday afternoons,

And loved the book, when she had dropped asleep

And made of it a pillow for her head.

Nor less do I remember to have felt,

Distinctly manifested at this time,

A human-heartedness about my love

For objects hitherto the absolute wealth

Of my own private being and no more: