Page:The Prelude, Wordsworth, 1850.djvu/72

50 Invisible, yet liveth to the heart;

O'er all that leaps and runs, and shouts and sings,

Or beats the gladsome air; o'er all that glides

Beneath the wave, yea, in the wave itself,

And mighty depth of waters. Wonder not

If high the transport, great the joy I felt,

Communing in this sort through earth and heaven

With every form of creature, as it looked

Towards the Uncreated with a countenance

Of adoration, with an eye of love.

One song they sang, and it was audible,

Most audible, then, when the fleshly ear,

O'ercome by humblest prelude of that strain,

Forgot her functions, and slept undisturbed.

If this be error, and another faith

Find easier access to the pious mind,

Yet were I grossly destitute of all

Those human sentiments that make this earth

So dear, if I should fail with grateful voice

To speak of you, ye mountains, and ye lakes

And sounding cataracts, ye mists and winds

That dwell among the hills where I was born.

If in my youth I have been pure in heart,

If, mingling with the world, I am content