Nor will she servilely attend 595
  The loitering journey to its end. 
—­Blithe spirits of her own impel
  The Muse, who scents the morning air,
  To take of this transported pair
  A brief and unreproved farewell; 600
  To quit the slow-paced waggon’s side,
  And wander down yon hawthorn dell,
  With murmuring Greta for her guide. 
—­There doth she ken the awful form
  Of Raven-crag—­black as a storm—­605
  Glimmering through the twilight pale;
  And Ghimmer-crag, [K] his tall twin brother,
  Each peering forth to meet the other:—­
  And, while she roves [53] through St. John’s Vale,
  Along the smooth unpathwayed plain, 610
  By sheep-track or through cottage lane,
  Where no disturbance comes to intrude
  Upon the pensive solitude,
  Her unsuspecting eye, perchance,
  With the rude shepherd’s favoured glance, 615
  Beholds the faeries in array,
  Whose party-coloured garments gay
  The silent company betray: 
  Red, green, and blue; a moment’s sight! 
  For Skiddaw-top with rosy light 620
  Is touched—­and all the band take flight. 
—­Fly also, Muse! and from the dell
  Mount to the ridge of Nathdale Fell;
  Thence, look thou forth o’er wood and lawn
  Hoar with the frost-like dews of dawn; 625
  Across yon meadowy bottom look,
  Where close fogs hide their parent brook;
  And see, beyond that hamlet small,
  The ruined towers of Threlkeld-hall,
  Lurking in a double shade, 630
  By trees and lingering twilight made! 
  There, at Blencathara’s rugged feet,
  Sir Lancelot gave a safe retreat
  To noble Clifford; from annoy
  Concealed the persecuted boy, 635
  Well pleased in rustic garb to feed
  His flock, and pipe on shepherd’s reed
  Among this multitude of hills,
  Crags, woodlands, waterfalls, and rills;
  Which soon the morning shall enfold, 640
  From east to west, in ample vest
  Of massy gloom and radiance bold.

    The mists, that o’er the streamlet’s bed
  Hung low, begin to rise and spread;
  Even while I speak, their skirts of grey 645
  Are smitten by a silver ray;
  And lo!—­up Castrigg’s naked steep
  (Where, smoothly urged, the vapours sweep
  Along—­and scatter and divide,
  Like fleecy clouds self-multiplied) 650
  The stately waggon is ascending,
  With faithful Benjamin attending,
  Apparent now beside his team—­
  Now lost amid a glittering steam:  [54]
  And with him goes his Sailor-friend, 655
  By this time near their journey’s