At distance heard, peopled the milder air.
The old man rose and hoisted up his load.
535 Together casting then a farewell look Upon those silent walls, we left the shade
And ere the stars were visible attained
A rustic inn, our evening resting-place.
THE END
1797?ca. 1799 1949
5. The words inside the brackets were added in MS. E.
.
292 / WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Michael1
A Pastoral Poem
If from the public way you turn your steps
Up the tumultuous brook of Green-head Ghyll,2
You will suppose that with an upright path
Your feet must struggle; in such bold ascent
5 The pastoral mountains front you, face to face.
But, courage! for around that boisterous brook
The mountains have all opened out themselves,
And made a hidden valley of their own.
No habitation can be seen; but they
10 Who journey thither find themselves alone
With a few sheep, with rocks and stones, and kites' haivks
That overhead are sailing in the sky.
It is in truth an utter solitude;
Nor should I have made mention of this Dell
15 But for one object which you might pass by,
Might see and notice not. Beside the brook
Appears a straggling heap of unhewn stones!
And to that simple object appertains
A story?unenriched with strange events,
20 Yet not unfit, I deem, for the fireside,
Or for the summer shade. It was the first
Of those domestic tales that spake to me
Of Shepherds, dwellers in the valleys, men
Whom I already loved;?not verily
25 For their own sakes, but for the fields and hills
Where was their occupation and abode.
And hence this Tale, while I was yet a Boy
Careless of books, yet having felt the power
Of Nature, by the gentle agency
30 Of natural objects, led me on to feel
For passions that were not my own, and think
(At random and imperfectly indeed)
On man, the heart of man, and human life.
Therefore, although it be a history
35 Homely and rude, I will relate the same
For the delight of a few natural hearts;
1. This poem is founded on the actual misfortunes lar vein on how a 'little tract of land' could serve, of a family at Grasmere. For the account of the for the class of men whom he had represented in
