Even like this maid, before I was called forth
  From the retirement of my native hills, 175
  I loved whate’er I saw:  nor lightly loved,
  But most intensely; never dreamt of aught
  More grand, more fair, more exquisitely framed
  Than those few nooks to which my happy feet
  Were limited.  I had not at that time 180
  Lived long enough, nor in the least survived
  The first diviner influence of this world,
  As it appears to unaccustomed eyes. 
  Worshipping then among the depth of things,
  As piety ordained; could I submit 185
  To measured admiration, or to aught
  That should preclude humility and love? 
  I felt, observed, and pondered; did not judge,
  Yea, never thought of judging; with the gift
  Of all this glory filled and satisfied. 190
  And afterwards, when through the gorgeous Alps
  Roaming, I carried with me the same heart: 
  In truth, the degradation—­howsoe’er
  Induced, effect, in whatsoe’er degree,
  Of custom that prepares a partial scale 195
  In which the little oft outweighs the great;
  Or any other cause that hath been named;
  Or lastly, aggravated by the times
  And their impassioned sounds, which well might make
  The milder minstrelsies of rural scenes 200
  Inaudible—­was transient; I had known
  Too forcibly, too early in my life,
  Visitings of imaginative power
  For this to last:  I shook the habit off
  Entirely and for ever, and again 205
  In Nature’s presence stood, as now I stand,
  A sensitive being, a creative soul.

    There are in our existence spots of time,
  That with distinct pre-eminence retain
  A renovating virtue, whence, depressed 210
  By false opinion and contentious thought,
  Or aught of heavier or more deadly weight,
  In trivial occupations, and the round
  Of ordinary intercourse, our minds
  Are nourished and invisibly repaired; 215
  A virtue, by which pleasure is enhanced,
  That penetrates, enables us to mount,
  When high, more high, and lifts us up when fallen. 
  This efficacious spirit chiefly lurks
  Among those passages of life that give 220
  Profoundest knowledge to what point, and how,
  The mind is lord and master—­outward sense
  The obedient servant of her will.  Such moments
  Are scattered everywhere, taking their date
  From our first childhood. [C] I remember well, 225
  That once, while yet my inexperienced hand
  Could scarcely hold a bridle, with proud hopes
  I mounted, and we journeyed towards the hills:  [D]
  An ancient servant of my father’s