And now ’tis mine, perchance for life, dear Vale,

Beloved Grasmere (let the Wandering Streams

Take up, the cloud-capped hills repeat, the Name),

One of thy lowly dwellings is my Home.

And was the cost so great? and could it seem 60

An act of courage, and the thing itself

A conquest? who must bear the blame? sage man

Thy prudence, thy experience—thy desires;

Thy apprehensions—blush thou for them all.

Yes, the realities of life so cold, 65