[19] 1827.
And yon thick woods maintain the primal truth,
Debased by many a superstitious form, 1822.
V
UNCERTAINTY
Darkness surrounds us: seeking, we are lost
On Snowdon's wilds, amid Brigantian coves,[20]
Or where the solitary shepherd roves
Along the plain of Sarum, by the ghost
Of Time and shadows of Tradition, crost;[21] 5
And where the boatman of the Western Isles
Slackens his course—to mark those holy piles
Which yet survive on bleak Iona's coast.[22]
Nor these, nor monuments of eldest name,[23]
Nor Taliesin's unforgotten lays,[24] 10
Nor characters of Greek or Roman fame,
To an unquestionable Source have led;
Enough—if eyes, that sought the fountain-head
In vain, upon the growing Rill may gaze.
FOOTNOTES:
[20] The reference is to Yorkshire. The Brigantes inhabited England from sea to sea, from Cumberland to Durham, but more especially Yorkshire. See Tacitus, Annals, book xii. 32; Ptolemy, Geographia, 27, 1; Camden, Britannia, 556-648.—Ed.
[21] 1827.
Of silently departed ages crossed; 1822.