Page:The Prelude, Wordsworth, 1850.djvu/167

BOOK VI.] In all that neighbourhood, through narrow lanes

Of eglantine, and through the shady woods,

And o'er the Border Beacon, and the waste

Of naked pools, and common crags that lay

Exposed on the bare fell, were scattered love,

The spirit of pleasure, and youth's golden gleam.

O Friend! we had not seen thee at that time,

And yet a power is on me, and a strong

Confusion, and I seem to plant thee there.

Far art thou wandered now in search of health

And milder breezes,—melancholy lot!

But thou art with us, with us in the past,

The present, with us in the times to come.

There is no grief, no sorrow, no despair,

No languor, no dejection, no dismay,

No absence scarcely can there be, for those

Who love as we do. Speed thee well! divide

With us thy pleasure; thy returning strength,

Receive it daily as a joy of ours;

Share with us thy fresh spirits, whether gift

Of gales Etesian or of tender thoughts.

I, too, have been a wanderer; but, alas!

How different the fate of different men.

Though mutually unknown, yea nursed and reared