To those who occupy and till the ground,
High on that mountain where they long have dwelt[476]
A wedded pair in childless solitude.
A house of stones collected on the spot,
By rude hands built, with rocky knolls in front,
Backed also by a ledge of rock, whose crest
Of birch-trees waves over the chimney top;
A rough abode—in colour, shape, and size,[477]
Such as in unsafe times of border-war
Might have been wished for and contrived, to elude