"Thy limbs will shortly be twice as stout as they are now, Then I'll yoke thee to my cart like a pony in the plough; My Playmate thou shalt be; and when the wind is cold Our hearth shall be thy bed, our house shall be thy fold. "It will not, will not rest!-poor Creature, can it be That 'tis thy mother's heart which is working so in thee? Things that I know not of belike to thee are dear, And dreams of things which thou canst neither see nor hear. " Alas, the mountain tops that look so green and fair! I've heard of fearful winds and darkness that come there; The little Brooks that seem all pastime and all play, "Here thou need'st not dread the raven in the sky; Night and day thou art safe, our cottage is hard by. Why bleat so after me? Why pull so at thy chain? Sleep-and at break of day I will come to thee again!" D2 -As homeward through the lane I went with lazy feet, And it seemed, as I retraced the ballad line by line, Again, and once again did I repeat the song; "Nay," said I, "more than half to the Damsel must belong, For she looked with such a look, and she spake with such a tone, That I almost received her heart into my own." XIII. THE IDLE SHEPHERD-BOYS; OR, DUNGEON-GHYLL FORCE. A PASTORAL. I. THE valley rings with mirth and joy; A never, never ending song, To welcome in the May. The Magpie chatters with delight; Or through the glittering Vapors dart * Ghyll in the dialect of Cumberland and Westmoreland is a short, and, for the most part, a steep narrow valley, with a stream running through it. Force is the word universally employed in these dialects for Waterfall. Beneath a rock, upon the grass, And thus, as happy as the Day, Those Shepherds wear the time away. III. Along the river's stony marge The Sand-lark chaunts a joyous song; The Thrush is busy in the wood, And carols loud and strong. A thousand Lambs are on the rocks, All newly born! both earth and sky That plaintive cry! which up the hill IV. Said Walter, leaping from the ground, "Down to the stump of yon old yew We'll for our Whistles run a race." -Away the Shepherds flew. They leapt they ran-and when they came Right opposite to Dungeon-Ghyll, Seeing that he should lose the prize, "Stop!" to his comrade Walter criesJames stopped with no good will: Said Walter then, "Your task is here, 'Twill keep you working half a year. V. "Now cross where I shall cross-come on, And follow me where I shall lead" The other took him at his word, But did not like the deed. It was a spot, which you may see Into a chasm a mighty Block Hath fallen, and made a Bridge of rock: The gulph is deep below; And in a bason black and small Receives a lofty Waterfall. |