5 She shall be mine, and I will make A lady of my own. 66 Myself will to my darling be The girl, in rock and plain, 10 In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, Shall feel an overseeing power To kindle or restrain. "She shall be sportive as the fawn That wild with glee across the lawn 15 Or up the mountain springs; And hers shall be the breathing balm, Of mute, insensate things. "The floating clouds their state shall lend 20 To her; for her the willow bend; Nor shall she fail to see, Even in the motions of the storm, Grace that shall mould the maiden's form By silent sympathy. 25"The stars of midnight shall be dear To her; and she shall lean her ear In many a secret place Where rivulets dance their wayward round, And beauty born of murmuring sound 30 Shall pass into her face. "And vital feelings of delight Shall rear her form to stately height, Her virgin bosom swell; Such thoughts to Lucy I will give 35 While she and I together live Here in this happy dell." Thus Nature spake. The work was done. - She died, and left to me 40 This heath, this calm and quiet scene; And never more will be. SHE DWELT AMONG THE UNTRODDEN WAYS. 10 SHE dwelt among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove, A maid whom there were none to praise, 5 A violet by a mossy stone Fair as a star, when only one She lived unknown, and few could know When Lucy ceased to be; But she is in her grave, and oh! The difference to me! THE DAFFODILS. The daffodils grew, and still grow, on the margin of Ullswater, and probably may be seen to this day as beautiful, in the month of March, nodding their golden heads beside the dancing and foaming waves. I WANDERED lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, A host, of golden daffodils; 5 Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Continuous as the stars that shine Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they 15 A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company : I gazed, and gazed, but little thought For oft, when on my couch I lie 10 TO THE DAISY. WITH little here to do or see Of things that in the great world be, 5 Thou unassuming Commonplace Oft on the dappled turf at ease I sit, and play with similes, Loose types of things through all degrees, Thoughts of thy raising: And many a fond and idle name I give to thee, for praise or blame, 15 As is the humor of the game, While I am gazing. A nun demure, of lowly port: 20 Of all temptations; A queen in crown of rubies drest; A starveling in a scanty vest; Are all, as seems to suit thee best, 25 A little cyclops, with one eye Staring to threaten and defy, That thought comes next, and instantly The freak is over, The shape will vanish, and behold I see thee glittering from afar, 40 Yet like a star, with glittering crest, Who shall reprove thee! Bright Flower! for by that name at last, I call thee, and to that cleave fast, 45 That breath'st with me in sun and air, YARROW UNVISITED. See the various Poems the scene of which is laid upon the banks of the Yarrow; in particular, the exquisite Ballad of Hamilton beginning, "Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny Bride, FROM Stirling Castle we had seen Had trod the banks of Clyde and Tay, And with the Tweed had travelled; |