They looked and saw a lengthening road, and wain 325
  That rang down a bare slope not far remote: 
  The barrows glistered bright with drops of rain,
  Whistled the waggoner with merry note,
  The cock far off sounded his clarion throat;
  But town, or farm, or hamlet, none they viewed, 330
  Only were told there stood a lonely cot
  A long mile thence.  While thither they pursued
  Their way, the Woman thus her mournful tale renewed.

XXXVIII

  “Peaceful as this immeasurable plain
  Is now, by beams of dawning light imprest, [36] 335
  In the calm sunshine slept the glittering main;
  The very ocean hath its hour of rest. 
  I too forgot the heavings of my breast. [37]
  How quiet ’round me ship and ocean were! 
  As quiet all within me.  I was blest, 340
  And looked, and fed upon the silent air
  Until it seemed to bring a joy to my despair.[38]

XXXIX

“Ah! how unlike those late terrific sleeps, And groans that rage of racking famine spoke; The unburied dead that lay in festering heaps,[39] 345 The breathing pestilence that rose like smoke, The shriek that from the distant battle broke, The mine’s dire earthquake, and the pallid host Driven by the bomb’s incessant thunder-stroke To loathsome vaults, where heart-sick anguish tossed, 350 Hope died, and fear itself in agony was lost! [40]

XL

  “Some mighty gulf of separation passed,
  I seemed transported to another world;
  A thought resigned with pain, when from the mast
  The impatient mariner the sail unfurled, 355
  And, whistling, called the wind that hardly curled
  The silent sea.  From the sweet thoughts of home
  And from all hope I was for ever hurled. 
  For me—­farthest from earthly port to roam
  Was best, could I but shun the spot where man might come. 360

XLI

  “And oft I thought (my fancy was so strong)
  That I, at last, a resting-place had found;
  ‘Here will I dwell,’ said I, ’my whole life long, [41]
  Roaming the illimitable waters round;
  Here will I live, of all but heaven disowned, 365
  And end my days upon the peaceful flood.’—­[42]
  To break my dream the vessel reached its bound;
  And homeless near a thousand homes I stood,
  And near a thousand tables pined and wanted food.

XLII