Page:The Prelude, Wordsworth, 1850.djvu/341

BOOK XII.] Glorying, I found a counterpoise in her,

Which, when the spirit of evil reached its height,

Maintained for me a secret happiness.

This narrative, my Friend! hath chiefly told

Of intellectual power, fostering love,

Dispensing truth, and, over men and things,

Where reason yet might hesitate, diffusing

Prophetic sympathies of genial faith:

So was I favoured—such my happy lot—

Until that natural graciousness of mind

Gave way to overpressure from the times

And their disastrous issues. What availed,

When spells forbade the voyager to land,

That fragrant notice of a pleasant shore

Wafted, at intervals, from many a bower

Of blissful gratitude and fearless love?

Dare I avow that wish was mine to see,

And hope that future times would surely see,

The man to come, parted, as by a gulph,

From him who had been; that I could no more

Trust the elevation which had made me one

With the great family that still survives

To illuminate the abyss of ages past,

Sage, warrior, patriot, hero; for it seemed