[25]A precious gift; for, as he grew in years,

With these impressions would he still compare

All his remembrances, thoughts, shapes, and forms;

And, being still unsatisfied with aught

Of dimmer character, he thence attained

An active power to fasten images

Upon his brain; and on their pictured lines

Intensely brooded, even till they acquired

The liveliness of dreams.[AD] Nor did he fail,

While yet a child, with a child's eagerness