Long was he absent—as a guide to youth,
With grief contending, and in search of truth;
In courting peace, and trying to forget 220
What was so deeply interesting yet.
A friend in England gave him all the news—
sad indulgence that he would not lose.
He told how Ellen suffer’d; how they sent
The maid from home, in sullen discontent,
With some relation on the Lakes to live,
In all the sorrow such retirements give;