Page:The Recluse, Wordsworth, 1888.djvu/19

Rh Take pleasure in the midst of happy thoughts,

But either She whom now I have, who now

Divides with me this loved abode, was there,

Or not far off. Where'er my footsteps turned,

Her voice was like a hidden Bird that sang,

The thought of her was like a flash of light,

Or an unseen companionship, a breath

Of fragrance independent of the Wind.

In all my goings, in the new and old

Of all my meditations, and in this

Favourite of all, in this the most of all.

—What being, therefore, since the birth of Man

Had ever more abundant cause to speak

Thanks, and if favours of the Heavenly Muse

Make him more thankful, then to call on Verse

To aid him and in song resound his joy?