XIX. THE HAUNTED TREE. ΤΟ THOSE silver clouds collected round the sun His mid-day warmth abate not, seeming less By soft reflection-grateful to the sky, To rocks, fields, woods. Nor doth our human sense Ask, for its pleasure, screen or canopy More ample than the time-dismantled Oak Spreads o'er this tuft of heath, which now, attired Was fashioned; whether by the hand of Art, On silken tissue, might diffuse his limbs Than fairest spiritual Creature of the groves, Approach - and, thus invited, crown with rest This venerable Tree; for, when the wind Blows keenly, it sends forth a creaking sound (Above the general roar of woods and crags) Distinctly heard from far a doleful note! As if (so Grecian shepherds would have deemed) The Hamadryad, pent within, bewailed Some bitter wrong. Nor is it unbelieved, By ruder fancy, that a troubled Ghost Haunts this old Trunk; lamenting deeds of which Not even a zephyr stirs ; the obnoxious Tree Vividly pictured in some glassy pool, That, for a brief space, checks the hurrying stream! XX. WRITTEN IN MARCH, WHILE RESTING ON THE BRIDGE AT THE FOOT OF BROTHER'S WATER. THE Cock is crowing, The lake doth glitter, The green field sleeps in the sun; The oldest and youngest Are at work with the strongest ; The cattle are grazing, Their heads never raising; There are forty feeding like one! Like an army defeated The Snow hath retreated, And now doth fare ill -anon On the top of the bare hill; The Plough-boy is whooping There's joy in the mountains; There's life in the fountains; Small clouds are sailing, Blue sky prevailing ; The rain is over and gone! XXI. GIPSIES. YET are they here the same unbroken knot Only their fire seems bolder, yielding light, Their bed of straw and blanket-walls. The Much witnessing of change and cheer, Yet as I left I find them here! weary Sun betook himself to rest. - Then issued Vesper from the fulgent West, Outshining like a visible God The glorious path in which he trod. |