Page:The Prelude, Wordsworth, 1850.djvu/261

 BOOK NINTH.

RESIDENCE IN FRANCE.

as a river,—partly (it might seem)

Yielding to old remembrances, and swayed

In part by fear to shape a way direct,

That would engulph him soon in the ravenous sea—

Turns, and will measure back his course, far back,

Seeking the very regions which he crossed

In his first outset; so have we, my Friend!

Turned and returned with intricate delay.

Or as a traveller, who has gained the brow

Of some aerial Down, while there he halts

For breathing-time, is tempted to review

The region left behind him; and, if aught

Deserving notice have escaped regard,

Or been regarded with too careless eye,

Strives, from that height, with one and yet one more