Part 16

"O blest seclusion! when the mind admits 1035 The law of duty; and can therefore move[393] Through each vicissitude of loss and gain, Linked in entire complacence with her choice; When youth's presumptuousness is mellowed down, And manhood's vain anxiety dismissed; 1040 When wisdom shows her seasonable fruit, Upon the boughs of sheltering leisure hung In sober plenty; when the spirit stoops To drink with gratitude the crystal stream Of unreproved enjoyment; and is pleased 1045 To muse, and be saluted by the air Of meek repentance, wafting wall-flower scents From out the crumbling ruins of fallen pride And chambers of transgression, now forlorn. O, calm contented days, and peaceful nights! 1050 Who, when such good can be obtained, would strive To reconcile his manhood to a couch Soft, as may seem, but, under that disguise, Stuffed with the thorny substance of the past For fixed annoyance; and full oft beset 1055 With floating dreams, black and disconsolate,[394] The vapoury phantoms of futurity?

"Within the soul a faculty abides, That with interpositions, which would hide And darken, so can deal that they become 1060 Contingencies of pomp; and serve to exalt Her native brightness. As the ample moon, In the deep stillness of a summer even Rising behind a thick and lofty grove, Burns, like an unconsuming fire of light, 1065 In the green trees; and, kindling on all sides Their leafy umbrage, turns the dusky veil Into a substance glorious as her own, Yea, with her own incorporated, by power Capacious and serene. Like power abides 1070 In man's celestial spirit; virtue thus Sets forth and magnifies herself; thus feeds A calm, a beautiful, and silent fire, From the encumbrances of mortal life, From error, disappointment--nay, from guilt; 1075 And sometimes, so relenting justice wills, From palpable oppressions of despair."

The Solitary by these words was touched With manifest emotion, and exclaimed; "But how begin? and whence?--'The Mind is free-- Resolve,' the haughty Moralist would say, 1081 'This single act is all that we demand.' Alas! such wisdom bids a creature fly Whose very sorrow is, that time hath shorn His natural wings!--To friendship let him turn 1085 For succour; but perhaps he sits alone On stormy waters, tossed in a little boat[395] That holds but him, and can contain no more! Religion tells of amity sublime Which no condition can preclude; of One 1090 Who sees all suffering, comprehends all wants, All weakness fathoms, can supply all needs: But is that bounty absolute?--His gifts, Are they not, still, in some degree, rewards For acts of service? Can his love extend 1095 To hearts that own not him? Will showers of grace, When in the sky no promise may be seen, Fall to refresh a parched and withered land? Or shall the groaning Spirit cast her load At the Redeemer's feet?" In rueful tone, 1100 With some impatience in his mien, he spake: Back to my mind rushed all that had been urged To calm the Sufferer when his story closed; I looked for counsel as unbending now; But a discriminating sympathy 1105 Stooped to this apt reply:--[396] "As men from men Do, in the constitution of their souls, Differ, by mystery not to be explained; And as we fall by various ways, and sink One deeper than another, self-condemned, 1110 Through manifold degrees of guilt and shame; So manifold and various are the ways Of restoration, fashioned to the steps Of all infirmity, and tending all To the same point, attainable by all-- 1115 Peace in ourselves, and union with our God. For you, assuredly, a hopeful road[397] Lies open: we have heard from you a voice At every moment softened in its course By tenderness of heart; have seen your eye, 1120 Even like an altar lit by fire from heaven, Kindle before us.--Your discourse this day, That, like the fabled Lethe, wished to flow In creeping sadness, through oblivious shades Of death and night, has caught at every turn 1125 The colours of the sun. Access for you Is yet preserved to principles of truth, Which the imaginative Will upholds In seats of wisdom, not to be approached By the inferior Faculty that moulds, 1130 With her minute and speculative pains, Opinion, ever changing! "I have seen A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract Of inland ground, applying to his ear The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell; 1135 To which, in silence hushed,[398] his very soul Listened intensely; and his countenance soon Brightened with joy; for from within were heard Murmurings, whereby the monitor expressed[399] Mysterious union with its native sea. 1140 Even such a shell[FU] the universe itself Is to the ear of Faith; and there are times, I doubt not, when to you it doth impart Authentic tidings of invisible things; Of ebb and flow, and ever-during power; 1145 And central peace, subsisting at the heart Of endless agitation. Here you stand, Adore, and worship, when you know it not; Pious beyond the intention of your thought; Devout above the meaning of your will. 1150 --Yes, you have felt, and may not cease to feel. The estate of man would be indeed forlorn If false conclusions of the reasoning power Made the eye blind, and closed the passages 1154 Through which the ear converses with the heart. Has not the soul, the being of your life, Received a shock of awful consciousness, In some calm season, when these lofty rocks At night's approach bring down the unclouded sky, To rest upon their circumambient walls; 1160 A temple framing of dimensions vast, And yet not too enormous for the sound Of human anthems,--choral song, or burst Sublime of instrumental harmony, To glorify the Eternal! What if these 1165 Did never break the stillness that prevails Here,--if the solemn nightingale[FV] be mute, And the soft woodlark here did never chant Her vespers,[FW]--Nature fails not to provide Impulse and utterance. The whispering air 1170 Sends inspiration from the shadowy heights, And blind recesses of the caverned rocks; The little rills, and waters numberless, Inaudible by daylight, blend their notes With the loud streams: and often, at the hour 1175 When issue forth the first pale stars, is heard, Within the circuit of this fabric huge, One voice--the solitary raven, flying Athwart the concave of the dark blue dome, Unseen, perchance above all[400] power of sight-- 1180 An iron knell! with echoes from afar Faint--and still fainter--as the cry, with which The wanderer accompanies her flight Through the calm region, fades upon the ear, Diminishing by distance till it seemed 1185 To expire; yet from the abyss is caught again, And yet again recovered![FX] "But descending From these imaginative heights, that yield Far-stretching views into eternity, Acknowledge that to Nature's humbler power 1190 Your cherished sullenness is forced to bend Even here, where her amenities are sown With sparing hand. Then trust yourself abroad To range her blooming bowers, and spacious fields, Where on the labours of the happy throng 1195 She smiles, including in her wide embrace City, and town, and tower,--and sea with ships Sprinkled;--be our Companion while we track Her rivers populous with gliding life; 1199 While, free as air, o'er printless sands we march, Or[401] pierce the gloom of her majestic woods; Roaming, or resting under grateful shade In peace and meditative cheerfulness; Where living things, and things inanimate, 1204 Do speak, at Heaven's command, to eye and ear, And speak to social reason's inner sense, With inarticulate language. "For, the Man-- Who, in this spirit, communes with the Forms Of nature, who with understanding heart Both knows and loves[402] such objects as excite 1210 No morbid passions, no disquietude, No vengeance, and no hatred--needs must feel The joy of that pure principle of love So deeply, that, unsatisfied with aught Less pure and exquisite, he cannot choose 1215 But seek for objects of a kindred love In fellow-natures and a kindred joy. Accordingly he by degrees perceives His feelings of aversion softened down; A holy tenderness pervade his frame. 1220 His sanity of reason not impaired, Say rather, all his thoughts now flowing clear, From a clear fountain flowing, he looks round And seeks for good; and finds the good he seeks: Until abhorrence and contempt are things 1225 He only knows by name; and, if he hear, From other mouths, the language which they speak, He is compassionate; and has no thought, No feeling, which can overcome his love.

"And further; by contemplating these Forms 1230 In the relations which they bear to man, He shall discern, how, through the various means Which silently they yield, are multiplied The spiritual presences of absent things. Trust me,[403] that for the instructed, time will come 1235 When they shall meet no object but may teach Some acceptable lesson to their minds Of human suffering, or of human joy. So shall they learn, while all things speak of man, Their duties from all forms;[404] and general laws, 1240 And local accidents, shall tend alike To rouse, to urge; and, with the will, confer The ability to spread the blessings wide Of true philanthropy. The light of love Not failing, perseverance from their steps 1245 Departing not, for them shall be confirmed[405] The glorious habit by which sense is made Subservient still to moral purposes, Auxiliar to divine. That change shall clothe The naked spirit, ceasing to deplore 1250 The burthen of existence. Science then Shall be a precious visitant; and then, And only then, be worthy of her name: For then her heart shall kindle; her dull eye, Dull and inanimate, no more shall hang 1255 Chained to its object in brute slavery; But taught with patient interest to watch The processes of things, and serve the cause Of order and distinctness, not for this Shall it forget that its most noble use, 1260 Its most illustrious province, must be found In furnishing clear guidance, a support Not treacherous, to the mind's _excursive_ power. --So build we up the Being that we are; Thus deeply drinking--in the soul of things, 1265 We shall be wise perforce; and, while inspired By choice, and conscious that the Will is free, Shall move unswerving, even as if impelled[406] By strict necessity, along the path Of order and of good. Whate'er we see, 1270 Or feel, shall tend to quicken and refine; Shall fix, in calmer seats of moral strength, Earthly desires; and raise, to loftier heights Of divine love, our intellectual soul."[407]

Here closed the Sage that eloquent harangue, 1275 Poured forth with fervour in continuous stream, Such as, remote, 'mid savage wilderness, An Indian Chief discharges from his breast Into the hearing of assembled tribes,[408] In open circle seated round, and hushed 1280 As the unbreathing air, when not a leaf Stirs in the mighty woods.--So did he speak: The words he uttered shall not pass away Dispersed, like music that the wind takes up By snatches, and lets fall, to be forgotten; 1285 No--they sank into me,[409] the bounteous gift Of one whom time and nature had made wise, Gracing his doctrine[410] with authority Which hostile spirits silently allow; Of one accustomed to desires that feed 1290 On fruitage gathered from the tree of life; To hopes on knowledge and experience built; Of one in whom persuasion and belief Had ripened into faith, and faith become A passionate intuition; whence the Soul, 1295 Though bound to earth by ties of pity and love, From all injurious servitude was free.

The Sun, before his place of rest were reached, Had yet to travel far, but unto us, To us who stood low in that hollow dell, 1300 He had become invisible,--a pomp Leaving behind of yellow radiance spread Over[411] the mountain sides, in contrast bold With ample shadows, seemingly, no less 1304 Than those resplendent lights, his rich bequest; A dispensation of his evening power. --Adown the path that[412] from the glen had led The funeral train, the Shepherd and his Mate Were seen descending:--forth to greet them ran[413] Our little Page: the rustic pair approach; 1310 And in the Matron's countenance may be read Plain indication[414] that the words, which told How that neglected Pensioner was sent Before his time into a quiet grave, Had done to her humanity no wrong: 1315 But we are kindly welcomed--promptly served With ostentatious zeal.--Along the floor Of the small Cottage in the lonely Dell A grateful couch was spread for our repose; Where, in the guise of mountaineers, we lay,[415] 1320 Stretched upon fragrant heath, and lulled by sound Of far-off torrents charming the still night, And, to tired limbs and over-busy thoughts, Inviting sleep and soft forgetfulness.[416]

VARIANTS:

[Footnote 284: 1827.

_Wanderer's ejaculation to the supreme Being--_ 1814.

1836.

_Account of his own devotional feelings in youth involved in it--_ 1814.

_account of his own devotional feelings in youth involved_-- 1827.

1827.

_Implores that he may retain in age the power to find repose among enduring and eternal things_-- 1814.

_What he wishes for in age_-- MS.

1827.

_What these latter are_-- 1814. ]

[Footnote 285: 1836.

_sorrow--but doubt or despondence not therefore to be inferred_-- 1814.

_sorrow--doubt_ 1827.

1836.

_And proceeds to administer consolation to the Solitary_-- 1814.

_Consolation to the Solitary_-- 1827.

_Consolation administered to the Solitary_-- MS. ]

[Footnote 286: 1827.

_How these are received--Wanderer resumes--and applies_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 287: 1827.

--_the disappointment of his expectations from_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 288: 1827.

_States the rational grounds_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 289: 1814.

_hope--insists_ 1827.

The text of 1836 returns to that of 1814.]

[Footnote 290: 1827.

_to the great revolutions of the world_-- 1814. ]

[Footnote 291: 1827.

_Rural life and Solitude particularly favourable to a_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 292: 1827.

_recommended for its influence on the affections and the imagination_-- 1814. ]

[Footnote 293: 1827

_and an active Communion_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 294: 1827

_a pitiable thing--If the elevated imagination cannot be exerted--try the humbler fancy--_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 295: 1827.

_--this illustrated_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 296: 1827.

_Wanderer, in answer,_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 297: 1827.

_feeling on the mind in the humble ranks of society, in rural life especially--This illustrated_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 298: 1827.

_Observation that these principles_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 299: 1845.

_presumptive_ 1814.

The text of 1847 reverts to that of 1814.]

[Footnote 300: 1827.

_Philosophers, whom the Solitary appears to esteem-- Recommends to him_ 1814.

_Recommends to the Solitary--_ MS. ]

[Footnote 301: 1827.

_Solitary agitated, and asks how--_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 302: 1836.

_Happy for us that the imagination and affections in our own despite mitigate the evils of that state of intellectual Slavery which the calculating understanding is so apt to produce--_ 1814.

_is apt to_ MS.

_Happy that the imagination and the affections mitigate the evils of that intellectual slavery which the calculating understanding is apt to produce--_ 1827. ]

[Footnote 303: 1827.

_How Nature is to be communed with--Wanderer concludes with a prospect of a_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 304: 1827.

_the affections, the understanding, and the reason--_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 305: 1827.

_Effect of the Wanderer's discourse--_ 1814. ]

[Footnote 306: 1845.

And doubtless yielding ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 307: 1845.

Such pity yet surviving, with firm voice, That did not falter though the heart was moved, 1814.

Such pity yet surviving, with clear voice That falter'd not, albeit the heart was moved, 1836. ]

[Footnote 308: 1836.

And, if they wither, ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 309: 1827.

... or ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 310: 1827.

... frame 1814. ]

[Footnote 311: 1827.

... tow'rds the Deep 1814. ]

[Footnote 312: 1827.

... and to aspire 1814. ]

[Footnote 313: 1836.

... it be just and meet, Through this, 'tis able to maintain its hold, 1814. ]

[Footnote 314: 1827.

... so senseless who could be In framing estimates of loss and gain, As long ... 1814.

In making estimates ... MS. ]

[Footnote 315: 1836.

... less. 1814. ]

[Footnote 316: This line was added in 1836.]

[Footnote 317: 1836.

Infer not hence a hope from those withheld 1814. ]

[Footnote 318: 1836.

Oh! no, full oft the innocent Sufferer sees 1814. ]

[Footnote 319: 1827

... its own pure Will. 1814. ]

[Footnote 320: 1827

Here then we rest: not fearing to be left In undisturbed possession of our creed For aught that human reasoning can achieve, To unsettle or perplex us: ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 321: 1827.

... open vanities Of dissipation; countless, still-renewed, Ephemeral offspring ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 322: 1827.

And from the encroachment ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 323: 1827.

Tow'rds ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 324: 1845.

For such exalted confidence could e'er 1814. ]

[Footnote 325: 1827.

... such 1814. ]

[Footnote 326: 1827.

The two extremes are equally remote From Truth and Reason;--do not, then, confound One with the other, but reject them both; And choose the middle point, whereon to build Sound expectations. This doth he advise 1814.

... despair Tho' transcient sadness were as natural As that a cloud albeit silver bright Should fling yon dark spot on the mountain side. Forced by sharp recoil from one extreme MS. ]

[Footnote 327: 1814.

Which to your over-weening spirits feeds Hope of a godlike flight, ... C. ]

[Footnote 328: 1827.

"Knowing"--(to adopt the energetic words Which a time-hallowed Poet hath employed) "Knowing ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 329: 1836.

The Redbreast feeds in winter from your hand; 1814. ]

[Footnote 330: 1836.

Towards her native firmament of heaven, 1814. ]

[Footnote 331: 1820.

This shady valley leaves,-- ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 332: 1845.

... a solemn bleat; Sent forth as if it were the Mountain's voice, 1814. ]

[Footnote 333: 1845.

As he expressed; for, from the mountain's heart The solemn bleat appeared to come; there was No other--and the region all around Stood silent, empty of all shape of life. --It was a Lamb--left somewhere to itself, 1814.

As he expressed; from out the mountain's heart The solemn bleat appeared to issue, startling The blank air--for the region all around Stood silent, empty of all shape of life: 1827.

As he described, the regions all around Stood silent, empty of all shape of life. And from the mountain's stony heart the voice Appeared to come, though but the unanswered bleat C.

Again! in the surrounding vacancy The effect upon the soul was ... C. ]

[Footnote 334: 1836.

... he thus ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 335: 1827.

Her foresight; and the intelligence ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 336: 1827.

... flocks, 1814. ]

[Footnote 337: 1836.

Unscattered by the wind, at whose loud call Their voyage was begun: ... 1814.

By the rough wind unscattered, at whose call Their voyage was begun: ... 1827.

Their voyage they began: ... C. ]

[Footnote 338: 1832.

... etherial arch 1814. ]

[Footnote 339: 1836.

Was to your sight revealed! ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 340: 1836.

... and perceived. There is a luxury ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 341: 1836.

... these ... 1814. ]

[Footnote 342: 1827.