Page:The Prelude, Wordsworth, 1850.djvu/59

BOOK II.] Of the old grey stone, from her scant board, supplied.

Hence rustic dinners on the cool green ground,

Or in the woods, or by a river side

Or shady fountains, while among the leaves

Soft airs were stirring, and the mid-day sun

Unfelt shone brightly round us in our joy.

Nor is my aim neglected if I tell

How sometimes, in the length of those half-years,

We from our funds drew largely;—proud to curb,

And eager to spur on, the galloping steed;

And with the courteous inn-keeper, whose stud

Supplied our want, we haply might employ

Sly subterfuge, if the adventure's bound

Were distant: some famed temple where of yore

The Druids worshipped, or the antique walls

Of that large abbey, where within the Vale

Of Nightshade, to St. Mary's honour built,

Stands yet a mouldering pile with fractured arch,

Belfry, and images, and living trees,

A holy scene! Along the smooth green turf

Our horses grazed. To more than inland peace

Left by the west wind sweeping overhead

From a tumultuous ocean, trees and towers

In that sequestered valley may be seen,

Both silent and both motionless alike;