_Pastor's apology and apprehensions[726] that he might have
detained his Auditors too long, with the Pastor's invitation
to his house_[727]--_Solitary disinclined to comply--rallies the
Wanderer--and playfully_[728] _draws a comparison between his
itinerant profession and that of the Knight-errant--which leads
to Wanderer's giving an account of changes in the Country from
the manufacturing spirit--Favourable effects--The other side
of the picture, and chiefly as it has affected the humbler
classes--Wanderer asserts the hollowness of all national grandeur
if unsupported by moral worth_[729]--_Physical science unable to
support itself--Lamentations over an excess of manufacturing
industry among the humbler Classes of Society--Picture of a Child
employed in a Cotton-mill--Ignorance and degradation of Children
among the agricultural Population reviewed--Conversation broken
off by a renewed Invitation from the Pastor--Path leading to his
House--Its appearance described--His Daughter--His Wife--His Son
(a Boy) enters with his Companion--Their happy appearance--The
Wanderer how affected by the sight of them._
The pensive Sceptic of the lonely vale
To those acknowledgments subscribed his own,
With a sedate compliance, which the Priest
Failed not to notice, inly pleased, and said:--
"If ye, by whom invited I began 5
These narratives[730] of calm and humble life,
Be satisfied, 'tis well,--the end is gained;
And in return for sympathy bestowed
And patient listening, thanks accept from me.
--Life, death, eternity! momentous themes 10
Are they[731]--and might demand a seraph's tongue,
Were they not equal to their own support;
And therefore no incompetence of mine
Could do them wrong. The universal forms
Of human nature, in a spot like this, 15
Present themselves at once to all men's view:
Ye wished for act and circumstance, that make
The individual known and understood;
And such as my best judgment could select
From what the place afforded, have been given; 20
Though apprehensions crossed me that my zeal
To his might well be likened, who unlocks
A cabinet stored with gems and pictures--draws
His treasures forth, soliciting regard[732]
To this, and this, as worthier than the last, 25
Till the spectator, who awhile was pleased 25
More than the exhibitor himself, becomes
Weary and faint, and longs to be released.
--But let us hence! my dwelling is in sight,
And there--"
At this the Solitary shrunk 30
With backward will; but, wanting not address
That inward motion to disguise, he said
To his Compatriot, smiling as he spake;
--"The peaceable remains of this good Knight
Would be disturbed, I fear, with wrathful scorn, 35
If consciousness could reach him where he lies
That one, albeit of these degenerate times,
Deploring changes past, or dreading change
Foreseen, had dared to couple, even in thought,
The fine vocation of the sword and lance 40
With the gross aims and body-bending toil
Of a poor brotherhood who walk the earth
Pitied, and, where they are not known, despised.
"Yet, by the good Knight's leave, the two estates
Are graced with some resemblance. Errant those, 45
Exiles and wanderers--and the like are these;
Who, with their burthen, traverse hill and dale,
Carrying relief for nature's simple wants.
--What though no higher recompense be sought[733]
Than honest maintenance, by irksome toil 50
Full oft procured, yet may they[734] claim respect,
Among the intelligent, for what this course
Enables them to be and to perform.
Their tardy steps give leisure to observe,
While solitude permits the mind to feel; 55
Instructs, and prompts her[735] to supply defects
By the division of her inward self
For grateful converse: and to these poor men
Nature (I but repeat your favourite boast)
Is bountiful--go wheresoe'er they may;[736] 60
Kind nature's various wealth is all their own.
Versed in the characters of men; and bound,
By ties[737] of daily interest, to maintain
Conciliatory manners and smooth speech;
Such have been, and still are in their degree, 65
Examples efficacious to refine
Rude intercourse; apt agents to expel,[738]
By importation of unlooked-for arts,
Barbarian torpor, and blind prejudice;
Raising, through just gradation, savage life 70
To rustic, and the rustic to urbane.
--Within their moving magazines is lodged
Power that comes forth to quicken and exalt
Affections[739] seated in the mother's breast,
And in the lover's fancy; and to feed 75
The sober sympathies of long-tried friends.
--By these Itinerants, as experienced men,
Counsel is given; contention they appease
With gentle language; in remotest wilds,[740]
Tears wipe away, and pleasant tidings bring; 80
Could the proud quest of chivalry do more?"
"Happy," rejoined the Wanderer, "they who gain
A panegyric from your generous tongue!
But, if to these Wayfarers once pertained
Aught of romantic interest, it is gone.[741] 85
Their purer service, in this realm at least,
Is past for ever.--An inventive Age
Has wrought, if not with speed of magic, yet
To most strange issues. I have lived to mark
A new and unforeseen creation rise 90
From out the labours of a peaceful Land
Wielding her potent enginery to frame
And to produce, with appetite as keen
As that of war, which rests not night or day,
Industrious to destroy![JR] With fruitless pains 95
Might one like me _now_ visit many a tract
Which, in his youth, he trod, and trod again,
A lone pedestrian with a scanty freight,[JS]
Wished-for, or welcome, wheresoe'er he came--
Among the tenantry of thorpe and vill;[JT] 100
Or straggling burgh, of ancient charter proud,
And dignified by battlements and towers
Of some stern castle, mouldering on the brow
Of a green hill or bank of rugged stream.[JU]
The foot-path faintly marked, the horse-track wild, 105
And formidable length of plashy lane,
(Prized avenues ere others had been shaped
Or easier links connecting place with place)
Have vanished--swallowed up by stately roads
Easy and bold, that penetrate the gloom 110
Of Britain's[742] farthest glens. The Earth has lent
Her waters, Air her breezes;[JV] and the sail
Of traffic glides with ceaseless intercourse,[743][JW]
Glistening along the low and woody dale;
Or, in its progress, on the lofty side, 115
Of some bare hill, with wonder kenned from far.[744][JX]
"Meanwhile, at social Industry's command,
How quick, how vast an increase! From the germ
Of some poor hamlet, rapidly produced
Here a huge town, continuous and compact, 120
Hiding the face of earth for leagues--and there,
Where not a habitation stood before,
Abodes[745] of men irregularly massed
Like trees in forests,--spread through spacious tracts,
O'er which the smoke of unremitting fires 125
Hangs permanent,[JY] and plentiful as wreaths
Of vapour glittering in the morning sun.
And, wheresoe'er the traveller turns his steps,
He sees the barren wilderness erased,
Or disappearing; triumph that proclaims 130
How much the mild Directress of the plough
Owes to alliance with these new-born arts!
--Hence is the wide sea peopled,--hence[746] the shores
Of Britain are resorted to by ships
Freighted from every climate of the world 135
With the world's choicest produce. Hence that sum
Of keels that rest within her crowded ports,
Or ride at anchor in her sounds and bays;
That animating spectacle of sails
That,[747] through her inland regions, to and fro 140
Pass with the respirations of the tide,
Perpetual, multitudinous! Finally,
Hence a dread arm of floating power, a voice
Of thunder daunting those who would approach
With hostile purposes the blessed Isle, 145
Truth's consecrated residence, the seat
Impregnable of Liberty and Peace.
"And yet, O happy Pastor of a flock
Faithfully watched, and, by that loving care
And Heaven's good providence, preserved from taint!
With you I grieve, when on the darker side 151
Of this great change I look; and there behold
Such outrage[748] done to nature as compels
The indignant power to justify herself;
Yea, to avenge her violated rights, 155
For England's bane.--When soothing darkness spreads
O'er hill and vale," the Wanderer thus expressed
His recollections, "and the punctual stars,
While all things else are gathering to their homes,
Advance, and in the firmament of heaven 160
Glitter--but undisturbing, undisturbed;
As if their silent company were charged
With peaceful admonitions for the heart
Of all-beholding Man, earth's thoughtful lord;
Then, in full many a region, once like this 165
The assured domain of calm simplicity
And pensive quiet, an unnatural light
Prepared for never-resting Labour's eyes
Breaks from a many-windowed fabric huge;[JZ]
And at the appointed hour a bell is heard, 170
Of harsher import than the curfew-knoll
That spake the Norman Conqueror's stern behest--[KA]
A local summons to unceasing toil!
Disgorged are now the ministers of day;
And, as they issue from the illumined pile, 175
A fresh band meets them, at the crowded door--
And in the courts--and where the rumbling stream,
That turns the multitude of dizzy wheels,[KB]
Glares, like a troubled spirit, in its bed
Among the rocks below. Men, maidens, youths, 180
Mother and little children, boys and girls,
Enter, and each the wonted task resumes
Within this temple, where is offered up
To Gain, the master idol of the realm,
Perpetual sacrifice. Even thus of old 185
Our ancestors, within the still domain
Of vast cathedral or conventual church,
Their vigils kept; where tapers day and night
On the dim altar burned continually,
In token that the House was evermore 190
Watching to God. Religious men were they;
Nor would their reason, tutored to aspire
Above this transitory world, allow
That there should pass a moment of the year,[749]
When in their land the Almighty's service ceased. 195
"Triumph who will in these profaner rites
Which we, a generation self-extolled,
As zealously perform! I cannot share
His proud complacency:--yet do I exult,[750]
Casting reserve away, exult to see 200
An intellectual mastery exercised
O'er the blind elements; a purpose given,
A perseverance fed; almost a soul
Imparted--to brute matter. I rejoice,
Measuring the force of those gigantic powers 205
That,[751] by the thinking mind, have been compelled
To serve the will of feeble-bodied Man.
For with the sense of admiration blends
The animating hope that time may come
When, strengthened, yet not dazzled, by the might 210
Of this dominion over nature gained,
Men of all lands shall exercise the same
In due proportion to their country's need;
Learning, though late, that all true glory rests,
All praise, all safety, and all happiness, 215
Upon the moral law. Egyptian Thebes,
Tyre, by the margin of the sounding waves,
Palmyra, central in the desert, fell;
And the Arts died by which they had been raised.[KC]
--Call Archimedes from his buried tomb 220
Upon the grave[752] of vanished Syracuse,[KD]
And feelingly the Sage shall make report
How insecure, how baseless in itself,
Is the Philosophy whose sway depends
On[753] mere material instruments;--how weak 225
Those arts, and high inventions, if unpropped
By virtue.--He, sighing with pensive grief,[754]
Amid his calm abstractions, would admit
That not the slender privilege is theirs
To save themselves from blank forgetfulness!" 230
When from the Wanderer's lips these words had fallen,
I said, "And, did in truth those vaunted Arts[755]
Possess such privilege, how could we escape
Sadness and keen regret, we who revere,[756]
And would preserve as things above all price, 235
The old domestic morals of the land,
Her simple manners, and the stable worth
That dignified and cheered a low estate?
Oh! where is now the character of peace,
Sobriety, and order, and chaste love, 240
And honest dealing, and untainted speech,
And pure good-will, and hospitable cheer;
That made the very thought of country-life
A thought of refuge, for a mind detained
Reluctantly amid the bustling crowd? 245
Where now the beauty of the sabbath kept
With conscientious reverence, as a day
By the almighty Lawgiver pronounced
Holy and blest? and where the winning grace
Of all the lighter ornaments attached 250
To time and season, as the year rolled round?"
"Fled!" was the Wanderer's passionate response,
"Fled utterly! or only to be traced
In a few fortunate retreats like this;
Which I behold with trembling, when I think 255
What lamentable change, a year--a month--
May bring; that brook converting as it runs
Into an instrument of deadly bane
For those, who, yet untempted to forsake
The simple occupations of their sires, 260
Drink the pure water of its innocent stream
With lip almost as pure.--Domestic bliss
(Or call it comfort, by a humbler name,)
How art thou blighted for the poor Man's heart!
Lo! in such neighbourhood, from morn to eve, 265
The habitations empty! or perchance
The Mother left alone,--no helping hand
To rock the cradle of her peevish babe;
No daughters round her, busy at the wheel,
Or in dispatch of each day's little growth 270
Of household occupation; no nice arts
Of needle-work; no bustle at the fire,
Where once the dinner was prepared with pride;
Nothing to speed the day, or cheer the mind;
Nothing to praise, to teach, or to command! 275
"The Father, if perchance he still retain
His old employments, goes to field or wood,
No longer led or followed by the[757] Sons;
Idlers perchance they were,--but in _his_ sight;
Breathing fresh air, and treading the green earth; 280
'Till their short holiday of childhood ceased,
Ne'er to return! That birthright now is lost.
Economists will tell you that the State
Thrives by the forfeiture--unfeeling thought,
And false as monstrous! Can the mother thrive 285
By the destruction of her innocent sons
In whom a premature necessity
Blocks out the forms of nature, preconsumes
The reason, famishes the heart, shuts up
The infant Being in itself, and makes 290
Its very spring a season of decay!
The lot is wretched, the condition sad,
Whether a pining discontent survive,
And thirst for change; or habit hath subdued
The soul deprest, dejected--even to love 295
Of her close tasks, and long captivity.[758]
Oh, banish far such wisdom as condemns
A native Briton to these inward chains,
Fixed in his soul, so early and so deep;
Without his own consent, or knowledge, fixed! 300
He is a slave to whom release comes not,
And cannot come. The boy, where'er he turns,
Is still a prisoner; when the wind is up
Among the clouds, and roars through the ancient woods;[759]
Or when the sun is shining in the east,[760] 305
Quiet and calm. Behold him--in the school
Of his attainments? no; but with the air
Fanning his temples under heaven's blue arch.
His raiment, whitened o'er with cotton-flakes
Or locks of wool, announces whence he comes. 310
Creeping his gait and cowering, his lip pale,
His respiration quick and audible;
And scarcely could you fancy that a gleam
Could break from out those languid eyes, or a blush[761]
Mantle upon his cheek. Is this the form, 315
Is that the countenance, and such the port,
Of no mean Being? One who should be clothed
With dignity befitting his proud hope;
Who, in his very childhood, should appear
Sublime from present purity and joy! 320
The limbs increase; but liberty of mind
Is gone for ever; and this organic frame,
So joyful in its motions, is become[762]
Dull, to the joy of her own motions dead;
And even the touch, so exquisitely poured 325
Through the whole body, with a languid will
Performs its[763] functions; rarely competent
To impress a vivid feeling on the mind
Of what there is delightful in the breeze,
The gentle visitations of the sun, 330
Or lapse of liquid element--by hand,
Or foot, or lip, in summer's warmth--perceived.
--Can hope look forward to a manhood raised
On such foundations?"
"Hope is none for him!"
The pale Recluse indignantly exclaimed, 335
"And tens of thousands suffer wrong as deep.
Yet be it asked, in justice to our age,
If there were not, before those arts appeared,
These structures rose, commingling old and young,
And unripe sex with sex, for mutual taint; 340
If there were not, _then_[764] in our far-famed Isle,
Multitudes, who from infancy had breathed
Air unimprisoned, and had lived at large;
Yet walked beneath the sun, in human shape,
As abject, as degraded? At this day, 345
Who shall enumerate the crazy huts
And tottering hovels, whence do issue forth
A ragged Offspring, with their upright hair[765]
Crowned like the image of fantastic Fear;
Or wearing, (shall we say?)[766] in that white growth 350
An ill-adjusted turban, for defence
Or fierceness, wreathed around their sun-burnt brows,
By savage Nature? Shrivelled are their lips;[767]
Naked, and coloured like the soil, the feet
On which they stand; as if thereby they drew 355
Some nourishment, as trees do by their roots,
From earth, the common mother of us all.
Figure and mien, complexion and attire,
Are leagued to strike dismay; but outstretched hand[768]
And whining voice denote them supplicants 360
For the least boon that pity can bestow.
Such on the breast of darksome heaths are found;
And with their parents occupy[769] the skirts
Of furze-clad commons; such are born and reared
At the mine's mouth under[770] impending rocks; 365
Or dwell in chambers of some natural cave;
Or[771] where their ancestors erected huts,
For the convenience of unlawful gain,
In forest purlieus; and the like are bred,
All England through, where nooks and slips of ground
Purloined, in times less jealous than our own, 371
From the green margin of the public way,
A residence afford them, 'mid the bloom
And gaiety of cultivated fields.
Such (we will hope the lowest in the scale) 375
Do I remember oft-times to have seen
'Mid Buxton's dreary heights.[KE] In earnest watch,[772]
Till the swift vehicle approach, they stand;
Then, following closely with the cloud of dust,
An uncouth feat exhibit, and are gone 380
Heels over head, like tumblers on a stage.
--Up from the ground they snatch the copper coin,
And, on the freight of merry passengers
Fixing a steady eye, maintain their speed;
And spin--and pant--and overhead again, 385
Wild pursuivants! until their breath is lost,
Or bounty tires--and every face, that smiled
Encouragement, hath ceased to look that way.
--But, like the vagrants of the gipsy tribe,
These, bred to little pleasure in themselves, 390
Are profitless to others.
"Turn we then
To Britons born and bred within the pale
Of civil polity, and early trained
To earn, by wholesome labour in the field,
The bread they eat. A sample should I give 395
Of what this stock hath long produced to enrich
The tender age of life, ye would exclaim,[773]
'Is this the whistling plough-boy whose shrill notes
Impart new gladness to the morning air!'
Forgive me if I venture to suspect 400
That many, sweet to hear of in soft verse,
Are of no finer frame. Stiff are his joints;[774]
Beneath a cumbrous frock, that to the knees
Invests the thriving churl, his legs appear,
Fellows to those that[775] lustily upheld 405
The wooden stools for everlasting use,
Whereon[776] our fathers sate. And mark his brow!
Under whose shaggy canopy are set
Two eyes--not dim, but of a healthy[777] stare--
Wide, sluggish, blank, and ignorant, and strange--
Proclaiming boldly that they never drew 411
A look or motion of intelligence
From infant-conning of the Christ-cross-row,[KF]
Or puzzling through a primer, line by line,
Till perfect mastery crown the pains at last. 415
--What kindly warmth from touch of fostering hand,
What penetrating power of sun or breeze,
Shall e'er dissolve the crust wherein his soul
Sleeps, like a caterpillar sheathed in ice?
This torpor is no pitiable work 420
Of modern ingenuity; no town
Nor crowded city can[778] be taxed with aught
Of sottish vice or desperate breach of law,
To which (and who can tell where or how soon?)
He may be roused. This Boy the fields produce: 425
His spade and hoe, mattock and glittering scythe,[779]
The carter's whip that[780] on his shoulder rests
In air high-towering with a boorish pomp,
The sceptre of his sway; his country's name,
Her equal rights, her churches and her schools-- 430
What have they done for him? And, let me ask,
For tens of thousands uninformed as he?
In brief, what liberty of _mind_[781] is here?"
This ardent[782] sally pleased the mild good Man,
To whom the appeal couched in its[783] closing words 435
Was pointedly addressed; and to the thoughts
That,[784] in assent or opposition, rose
Within his mind, he seemed prepared to give
Prompt utterance; but the Vicar interposed[785]
With invitation urgently[786] renewed. 440
--We followed, taking as he led, a path
Along a hedge of hollies dark and tall,[787][KG]
Whose flexile boughs low bending with a weight[788]
Of leafy spray, concealed the stems and roots
That gave them nourishment. When frosty winds 445
Howl from the north, what kindly warmth, methought,
Is here--how grateful this impervious screen![789]
--Not shaped by simple wearing of the foot
On rural business passing to and fro
Was the commodious walk: a careful hand 450
Had marked the line, and strewn its[790] surface o'er
With pure cerulean gravel,[KH] from the heights
Fetched by a[791] neighbouring brook.--Across the vale
The stately fence accompanied our steps;
And thus the pathway, by perennial green 455
Guarded and graced, seemed fashioned to unite,
As by a beautiful yet solemn chain,
The Pastor's mansion with the house of prayer.
Like image of solemnity, conjoined
With feminine allurement soft and fair, 460
The mansion's self displayed;--a reverend pile
With bold projections and recesses deep;
Shadowy, yet gay and lightsome as it stood
Fronting the noontide sun. We paused to admire
The pillared porch, elaborately embossed; 465
The low wide windows with their mullions old;
The cornice, richly fretted, of grey stone;
And that smooth slope from which the dwelling rose,
By beds and banks Arcadian of gay flowers
And flowering shrubs, protected and adorned: 470
Profusion bright! and every flower assuming
A more than natural vividness of hue,
From unaffected contrast with the gloom
Of sober cypress, and the darker foil
Of yew, in which survived some traces, here 475
Not unbecoming, of grotesque device
And uncouth fancy. From behind the roof
Rose the slim ash and massy sycamore,
Blending their diverse foliage with the green
Of ivy, flourishing and thick, that clasped 480
The huge round chimneys, harbour of delight
For wren and redbreast,--where they sit and sing
Their slender ditties when the trees are bare.
Nor must I leave untouched (the picture else
Were incomplete) a relique of old times[792] 485
Happily spared, a little Gothic niche
Of nicest workmanship; that[793] once had held
The sculptured image of some patron-saint,
Or of the blessed Virgin, looking down
On all who entered those religious doors. 490
But lo! where from the cocky garden-mount
Crowned by its antique summer-house--descends,
Light as the silver fawn, a radiant Girl;
For she hath recognised her honoured friend,
The Wanderer ever welcome! A prompt kiss 495
The gladsome Child bestows at his request;
And, up the flowery lawn as we advance,
Hangs on the old Man with a happy look,
And with a pretty restless hand of love.
--We enter--by the Lady of the place 500
Cordially greeted. Graceful was her port:[794]
A lofty stature undepressed by time,
Whose visitation had not wholly spared[795]
The finer lineaments of form[796] and face;
To that complexion brought which prudence trusts in
And wisdom loves.--But when a stately ship 506
Sails in smooth weather by the placid coast[KI]
On homeward voyage, what--if wind and wave,
And hardship undergone in various climes,
Have caused her to abate the virgin pride, 510
And that full trim of inexperienced hope
With which she left her haven--not for this,
Should the sun strike her, and the impartial breeze
Play on her streamers, fails she[797] to assume
Brightness and touching beauty of her own, 515
That charm all eyes. So bright, so fair, appeared[798]
This goodly Matron, shining in the beams
Of unexpected pleasure.--Soon the board
Was spread, and we partook a plain repast.
Here, resting in cool shelter, we beguiled[799] 520
The mid-day hours with desultory talk;
From trivial themes to general argument
Passing, as accident or fancy led,
Or courtesy prescribed. While question rose
And answer flowed, the fetters of reserve 525
Dropping from every mind, the Solitary[800]
Resumed the manners of his happier days;
And[801] in the various conversation bore
A willing, nay,[802] at times, a forward part;
Yet with the grace of one who in the world 530
Had learned the art of pleasing, and had now
Occasion given him to display his skill,
Upon the stedfast 'vantage-ground of truth.
He gazed, with admiration unsuppressed,
Upon the landscape of the sun-bright vale, 535
Seen, from the shady room in which we sate,
In softened pérspective; and more than once
Praised the consummate harmony serene
Of gravity and elegance, diffused
Around the mansion and its whole domain; 540
Not, doubtless, without help of female taste
And female care.--"A blessed lot is yours!"
The words escaped his lip, with a tender sigh
Breathed over them: but suddenly the door
Flew open, and a pair of lusty Boys[803] 545
Appeared, confusion checking their delight.
--Not brothers they in feature or attire,
But fond companions, so I guessed, in field,
And by the river's margin--whence they come,
Keen anglers with unusual spoil elated.[804] 550
One bears a willow-pannier on his back,
The boy of plainer garb, whose blush survives
More deeply tinged. Twin might the other be
To that fair girl who from the garden-mount
Bounded:--triumphant entry this for him![805] 555
Between his hands he holds a smooth blue stone,
On whose capacious surface see[806] outspread
Large store of gleaming crimson-spotted trouts;
Ranged side by side, and lessening by degrees[807]
Up to the dwarf that tops the pinnacle. 560
Upon the board he lays the sky-blue stone
With its rich freight;[808] their number he proclaims;
Tells from what pool the noblest had been dragged;
And where the very monarch of the brook,
After long struggle, had escaped at last-- 565
Stealing alternately at them and us
(As doth his comrade too) a look of pride:
And, verily, the silent creatures made
A splendid sight, together thus exposed;
Dead--but not sullied or deformed by death, 570
That seemed to pity what he could not spare.
But O, the animation in the mien
Of those two boys! yea in the very words
With which the young narrator was inspired,
When, as our questions led, he told at large 575
Of that day's prowess! Him might I compare,
His looks,[809] tones, gestures, eager eloquence,
To a bold brook that[810] splits for better speed,
And at the self-same moment, works its way
Through many channels, ever and anon 580
Parted and re-united: his compeer
To the still lake, whose stillness is to sight[811]
As beautiful--as grateful to the mind.
--But to what object shall the lovely Girl
Be likened? She whose countenance and air 585
Unite the graceful qualities of both,
Even as she shares the pride and joy of both.
My grey-haired Friend was moved; his vivid eye
Glistened with tenderness; his mind, I knew,
Was full; and had, I doubted not, returned, 590
Upon this impulse, to the theme--erewhile
Abruptly broken off. The ruddy boys
Withdrew, on summons to their well-earned meal;[812]
And He--to whom all tongues resigned their rights
With willingness, to whom the general ear 595
Listened with readier patience than to strain
Of music, lute or harp, a long delight
That ceased not when his voice had ceased--as One
Who from truth's central point serenely views
The compass of his argument--began 600
Mildly, and with a clear and steady tone.