Inseparably linked.  Then be assured
  That least of all can aught—­that ever owned 80
  The heaven-regarding eye and front sublime [C]
  Which man is born to—­sink, howe’er depressed,
  So low as to be scorned without a sin;
  Without offence to God cast out of view;
  Like the dry remnant of a garden-flower 85
  Whose seeds are shed, or as an implement
  Worn out and worthless. [11] While from door to door
  This old Man creeps, [12] the villagers in him
  Behold a record which together binds
  Past deeds and offices of charity, 90
  Else unremembered, and so keeps alive
  The kindly mood in hearts which lapse of years,
  And that half-wisdom half-experience gives,
  Make slow to feel, and by sure steps resign
  To selfishness and cold oblivious cares. 95
  Among the farms and solitary huts,
  Hamlets and thinly-scattered villages,
  Where’er the aged Beggar takes his rounds,
  The mild necessity of use compels
  To acts of love; and habit does the work 100
  Of reason; yet prepares that after-joy
  Which reason cherishes.  And thus the soul,
  By that sweet taste of pleasure unpursued
  Doth find herself [13] insensibly disposed
  To virtue and true goodness. 105
                               Some there are,
  By their good works exalted, lofty minds
  And meditative, authors of delight
  And happiness, which to the end of time
  Will live, and spread, and kindle:  even such minds [14] 110
  In childhood, from this solitary Being,
  Or from like wanderer, haply have received [15]
  (A thing more precious far than all that books
  Or the solicitudes of love can do!)
  That first mild touch of sympathy and thought, 115
  In which they found their kindred with a world
  Where want and sorrow were.  The easy man
  Who sits at his own door,—­and, like the pear
  That [16] overhangs his head from the green wall,
  Feeds in the sunshine; the robust and young, 120
  The prosperous and unthinking, they who live
  Sheltered, and flourish in a little grove
  Of their own kindred;—­all behold in him
  A silent monitor, which on their minds
  Must needs impress a transitory thought 125
  Of self-congratulation, to the heart
  Of each recalling his peculiar boons,
  His charters and exemptions; and, perchance,
  Though he to no one give the fortitude
  And circumspection needful to preserve 130
  His present blessings, and to husband up
  The respite of the season, he, at least,
  And ’tis no vulgar service, makes them felt.