And fixed his home in this sequestered vale.

'Tis left untold if here he first drew breath,

Or as a stranger reached this deep recess,

Unknowing and unknown. A pleasing thought

I sometimes entertain, that haply bound

To Scotland's court in service of his Queen,

Or sent on mission to some northern Chief

Of England's realm, this vale he might have seen

With transient observation; and thence caught

An image fair, which, brightening in his soul