That skimmed the surface of the dead calm lake, And starting off again with freak as sudden; That was its wings, its chariot, and its horse, On which it grew, or to be left alone To its own beauty. Many such there are, -So fared we that bright morning: from the fields, The tall and upright figure of a Man Attired in peasant's garb, who stood alone, Angling beside the margin of the lake. "Improvident and reckless," we exclaimed, "The Man must be, who thus can lose a day Of the mid harvest, when the labourer's hire Is ample, and some little might be stored Wherewith to cheer him in the winter time." Thus talking of that Peasant, we approached Close to the spot where with his rod and line He stood alone; whereat he turned his head To greet us and we saw a Man worn down By sickness, gaunt and lean, with sunken cheeks And wasted limbs, his legs so long and lean That for my single self I looked at them, Forgetful of the body they sustained.Too weak to labour in the harvest field, The Man was using his best skill to gain A pittance from the dead unfeeling lake That knew not of his wants. I will not say What thoughts immediately were ours, nor how The happy idleness of that sweet morn, With all its lovely images, was changed Nor did we fail to see within ourselves What need there is to be reserved in speech, My Friend, Myself, and She who then received Or foreland, on a new-discovered coast; And POINT RAsh-Judgment is the name it bears. 1800 LXV THERE is an Eminence,—of these our hills With such communion, that no place on earth Hath to this lonely Summit given my Name. LXVI CHARACTERISTICS OF A CHILD THREE YEARS OLD LOVING she is, and tractable, though wild; Mock-chastisement and partnership in play. Not less if unattended and alone Than when both young and old sit gathered round And take delight in its activity; Even so this happy Creature of herself Is all-sufficient; solitude to her Is blithe society, who fills the air With gladness and involuntary songs. Light are her sallies as the tripping fawn's Forth-startled from the fern where she lay couched? Of the soft breeze ruffling the meadow-flowers, 1811 LXVII ANIMAL TRANQUILLITY AND DECAY That peck along the roads, regard him not. A man who does not move with pain, but moves To peace so perfect that the young behold 1798 LXVIII THE OLD CUMBERLAND BEGGAR The class of Beggars, to which the Old Man here described belongs, will probably soon be extinct. It consisted of poor, and, mostly, old and infirm persons, who confined themselves to a stated round in their neighbourhood, and had certain fixed days, on which, at different houses, they regularly received alms, sometimes in money, but mostly in provisions. I SAW an aged Beggar in my walk; And he was seated, by the highway side, |