Page:The Prelude, Wordsworth, 1850.djvu/348

326 A renovating virtue, whence, depressed

By false opinion and contentious thought,

Or aught of heavier or more deadly weight,

In trivial occupations, and the round

Of ordinary intercourse, our minds

Are nourished and invisibly repaired;

A virtue, by which pleasure is enhanced,

That penetrates, enables us to mount,

When high, more high, and lifts us up when fallen.

This efficacious spirit chiefly lurks

Among those passages of life that give

Profoundest knowledge to what point, and how,

The mind is lord and master—outward sense

The obedient servant of her will. Such moments

Are scattered everywhere, taking their date

From our first childhood. I remember well,

That once, while yet my inexperienced hand

Could scarcely hold a bridle, with proud hopes

I mounted, and we journeyed towards the hills:

An ancient servant of my father's house

Was with me, my encourager and guide:

We had not travelled long, ere some mischance

Disjoined me from my comrade; and, through fear

Dismounting, down the rough and stony moor

I led my horse, and, stumbling on, at length