And from thy presence shed the light of love,
  Shall I be mute, ere thou be spoken of? 280
  Thy kindred influence to my heart of hearts
  Did also find its way.  Thus fear relaxed
  Her over-weening grasp; thus thoughts and things
  In the self-haunting spirit learned to take
  More rational proportions; mystery, 285
  The incumbent mystery of sense and soul,
  Of life and death, time and eternity,
  Admitted more habitually a mild
  Interposition—­a serene delight
  In closelier gathering cares, such as become 290
  A human creature, howsoe’er endowed,
  Poet, or destined for a humbler name;
  And so the deep enthusiastic joy,
  The rapture of the hallelujah sent
  From all that breathes and is, was chastened, stemmed 295
  And balanced by pathetic truth, by trust
  In hopeful reason, leaning on the stay
  Of Providence; and in reverence for duty,
  Here, if need be, struggling with storms, and there
  Strewing in peace life’s humblest ground with herbs, 300
  At every season green, sweet at all hours.

    And now, O Friend! this history is brought
  To its appointed close:  the discipline
  And consummation of a Poet’s mind,
  In everything that stood most prominent, 305
  Have faithfully been pictured; we have reached
  The time (our guiding object from the first)
  When we may, not presumptuously, I hope,
  Suppose my powers so far confirmed, and such
  My knowledge, as to make me capable 310
  Of building up a Work that shall endure. [G]
  Yet much hath been omitted, as need was;
  Of books how much! and even of the other wealth
  That is collected among woods and fields,
  Far more:  for Nature’s secondary grace 315
  Hath hitherto been barely touched upon,
  The charm more superficial that attends
  Her works, as they present to Fancy’s choice
  Apt illustrations of the moral world,
  Caught at a glance, or traced with curious pains. 320

    Finally, and above all, O Friend! (I speak
  With due regret) how much is overlooked
  In human nature and her subtle ways,
  As studied first in our own hearts, and then
  In life among the passions of mankind, 325
  Varying their composition and their hue,
  Where’er we move, under the diverse shapes
  That individual character presents
  To an attentive eye.  For progress meet,
  Along this intricate and difficult path, 330
  Whate’er was wanting, something had I gained,
  As one of many schoolfellows compelled,
  In hardy independence, to stand up
  Amid conflicting interests, and the shock
  Of various tempers; to endure and note