Of heath-plant, under and above him strewn, We spake he made reply, but would not stir At our entreaty; less from want of power And with their freight the Shepherds homeward moved Through the dull mist, I following—when a step, A single step, that freed me from the skirts Of the blind vapour, open'd to my view By waking sense or by the dreaming soul! With battlements that on their restless fronts Bore stars illumination of all gems! By earthly nature had the effect been wrought Now pacified; on them, and on the coves And mountain-steeps and summits, whereunto Their station under a cerulean sky. O, 'twas an unimaginable sight! Clouds, mists, streams, watery rocks and emerald turf, Clouds of all tincture, rocks and sapphire sky, Confused, commingled, mutually inflamed, Beneath a shining canopy of state Stood fix'd; and fix'd resemblances were seen To implements of ordinary use, But vast in size, in substance glorified; Such as by Hebrew Prophets were beheld In vision forms uncouth of mightiest power, For admiration and mysterious awe. Below me was the earth; this little Vale That which I saw was the reveal'd abode Swell'd in my breast. “I have been dead," I cried, "And now I live! Oh! wherefore do I live?" And with that pang I pray'd to be no more! I then forgot him: - there I stood and gazed; And I descended. - Having reach'd the House, Beside a genial fire; that seem'd to spread ARGUMENT. Images in the Valley Another Recess in it entered and de scribed Wanderer's sensations Solitary's excited by the same objects - Contrast between these Despondency of the Solitary gently reproved - Conversation exhibiting the Solitary's past and present opinions and feelings, till he enters upon his own History at length - His domestic felicity-afflictions — dejection roused by the French Revolution - Disappointment and disgust - Voyage to America-disappointment and disgust pursue him his return - His languor and depression of mind, from want of faith in the great truths of Religion, and want of confidence in the virtue of Mankind. A pair of Falcons, wheeling on the wing, By each and all of these the pensive ear Was greeted, in the silence that ensued, The shade of discontent which on his brow Had gather'd, "Ye have left my cell, but see How Nature hems you in with friendly arms! |