Long time have human ignorance and guilt
  Detained us, on what spectacles of woe
  Compelled to look, and inwardly oppressed
  With sorrow, disappointment, vexing thoughts,
  Confusion of the judgment, zeal decayed, 5
  And, lastly, utter loss of hope itself
  And things to hope for!  Not with these began
  Our song, and not with these our song must end.—­
  Ye motions of delight, that haunt the sides
  Of the green hills; ye breezes and soft airs, 10
  Whose subtle intercourse with breathing flowers,
  Feelingly watched, might teach Man’s haughty race
  How without injury to take, to give
  Without offence [A]; ye who, as if to show
  The wondrous influence of power gently used, 15
  Bend the complying heads of lordly pines,
  And, with a touch, shift the stupendous clouds
  Through the whole compass of the sky; ye brooks,
  Muttering along the stones, a busy noise
  By day, a quiet sound in silent night; 20
  Ye waves, that out of the great deep steal forth
  In a calm hour to kiss the pebbly shore,
  Not mute, and then retire, fearing no storm;
  And you, ye groves, whose ministry it is
  To interpose the covert of your shades, 25
  Even as a sleep, between the heart of man
  And outward troubles, between man himself,
  Not seldom, and his own uneasy heart: 
  Oh! that I had a music and a voice
  Harmonious as your own, that I might tell 30
  What ye have done for me.  The morning shines,
  Nor heedeth Man’s perverseness; Spring returns,—­
  I saw the Spring return, and could rejoice,
  In common with the children of her love,
  Piping on boughs, or sporting on fresh fields, 35
  Or boldly seeking pleasure nearer heaven
  On wings that navigate cerulean skies. 
  So neither were complacency, nor peace,
  Nor tender yearnings, wanting for my good
  Through these distracted times; in Nature still 40
  Glorying, I found a counterpoise in her,
  Which, when the spirit of evil reached its height. 
  Maintained for me a secret happiness.

    This narrative, my Friend! hath chiefly told
  Of intellectual power, fostering love, 45
  Dispensing truth, and, over men and things,
  Where reason yet might hesitate, diffusing
  Prophetic sympathies of genial faith: 
  So was I favoured—­such my happy lot—­
  Until that natural graciousness of mind 50
  Gave way to overpressure from the times
  And their disastrous issues.  What availed,
  When spells forbade the voyager to land,
  That fragrant notice of a pleasant shore
  Wafted, at intervals, from many a bower 55