I. THERE was a Boy; ye knew him well, ye Cliffs And islands of Winander! many a time, At evening, when the earliest stars began Beneath the trees, or by the glimmering lake ; shout And they would Across the watery vale, and shout again, Of mirth and jocund din! And, when it chanced Listening, a gentle shock of mild surprise Has carried far into his heart the voice Of mountain torrents; or the visible scene With all its solemn imagery, its rocks, Its woods, and that uncertain heaven, received This Boy was taken from his Mates, and died hangs Upon a slope above the village-school; And there, along that bank, when I have passed At evening, I believe, that oftentimes A long half-hour together I have stood Mute - looking at the grave in which he lies! II. ΤΟ On her First Ascent to the Summit of Helvellyn. INMATE of a mountain Dwelling, Potent was the spell that bound thee In the moment of dismay, While blue Ether's arms, flung round thee, Stilled the pantings of dismay. Lo! the dwindled woods and meadows! What a vast abyss is there! Lo! the clouds, the solemn shadows, And the glistenings heavenly fair! And a record of commotion Which a thousand ridges yield; - Take thy flight; -possess, inherit Alps or Andes they are thine! With the morning's roseate spirit, Or survey the bright dominions Thine are all the choral fountains Of the untrodden lunar mountains; To Niphate's top invited, For the power of hills is on thee, As was witnessed through thine eye Then, when old Helvellyn won thee. To confess their majesty! III. TO THE CUCKOO. O BLITHE New-comer! I have heard, I hear thee and rejoice : O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird, While I am lying on the grass, I hear thee babbling to the Vale Of sunshine and of flowers; But unto me thou bring'st a tale Of visionary hours. Thrice welcome, Darling of the Spring! Even yet thou art to me No Bird; but an invisible Thing, A voice, a mystery. |