... Light with graver flatteries, 1827.
XII[276]
"DOWN A SWIFT STREAM, THUS FAR, A BOLD DESIGN"
Published 1827
Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design
Have we pursued, with livelier stir of heart
Than his who sees, borne forward by the Rhine,
The living landscapes greet him, and depart;
Sees spires fast sinking—up again to start! 5
And strives the towers to number, that recline
O'er the dark steeps, or on the horizon line
Striding with shattered crests his[277] eye athwart.
So have we hurried on with troubled pleasure:
Henceforth, as on the bosom of a stream 10
That slackens, and spreads wide a watery gleam,
We, nothing loth a lingering course to measure,
May gather up our thoughts, and mark at leisure
How widely spread the interests of our theme.[278]
FOOTNOTES:
[276] Compare the extracts from Mary and Dorothy Wordsworth's Journals in the "Memorials of a Tour on the Continent" (vol. vi. p. 300).—Ed.
[277] 1845.
... the ... 1827.