Thy limbs will shortly be twice as stout as they are now, Then I'll yoke thee to my cart like a pony in the plough ; My playmate thou shalt be; and when the wind is cold Our hearth shall be thy bed, our house shall be thy fold. It will not, will not rest!-Poor creature, can it be Alas, the mountain-tops that look so green and fair ! I've heard of fearful winds and darkness that come there; The little brooks that seem all pastime and all play, When they are angry, roar like lions for their prey. Here thou need'st not dread the raven in the sky; Night and day thou art safe, our cottage is hard by. Why bleat so after me? Why pull so at thy chain? Sleep-and at break of day I will come to thee again!" -As homeward through the lane I went with lazy feet, Again, and once again, did I repeat the song; 66 Nay," said I, "more than half to the damsel must belong, For she looked with such a look, and she spake with such a tone, That I almost received her heart into my own." THE IDLE SHEPHERD-BOYS; * OR, DUNGEON-GHYLL FORCE.† A PASTORAL. THE valley rings with mirth and joy ; The magpie chatters with delight; Or through the glittering vapours dart Beneath a rock, upon the grass, On pipes of sycamore they play * Written at Grasmere, 1800. ↑ Ghyll, in the dialect of Cumberland and Westmoreland, is a short and, for the most part, a steep narrow valley, with a stream running through it. Force is the word universally employed in these dialects for waterfall. It seems they have no work to do, Or that their work is done.-Edit. 1815. And thus, as happy as the day, Along the river's stony marge A thousand lambs are on the rocks, That plaintive cry! which up the hill Said Walter, leaping from the ground, They leapt they ran-and when they came Seeing that he should lose the prize, "Stop!" to his comrade Walter cries— James stopped with no good will: Cross, if you dare, where I shall cross- And followed as he led.* * Now cross where I shall cross-come on, The other took him at his word, But did not like the deed.-Edit. 1815. It was a spot which you may see Into a chasm a mighty block Hath fallen, and made a bridge of rock : And, in a basin black and small, Receives a lofty waterfall. With staff in hand across the cleft When list! he hears a piteous moan— A lamb, that in the pool is pent The lamb had slipped into the stream, His dam had seen him when he fell, She saw him down the torrent borne ; And, while with all a mother's love She from the lofty rocks above Sent forth a cry forlorn, The lamb, still swimming round and round, Made answer to that plaintive sound. When he had learnt what thing it was, That sent this rueful cry; I ween The Boy recovered heart, and told He drew it from the troubled pool,* Into their arms the lamb they took, Whose life and limbs the flood had spared; † Then up the steep ascent they hied, And placed him at his mother's side; And gently did the Bard Those idle Shepherd-boys upbraid, And bade them better mind their trade. TO A BUTTERFLY.‡ I'VE watched you now a full half-hour, I know not if you sleep or feed. * He drew it gently from the pool.-Edit. 1815. Said they, he's neither maimed nor scarred.-Edit. 1815. |