When a month and a day had come and gane, Kilmeny sought the green-wood wene; There laid her down on the leaves sae green, And Kilmeny on earth was never mair seen. But O, the words that fell from her mouth Were words of wonder, and words of truth! But all the land were in fear and dread, For they kendna whether she was living or dead. It wasna her hame, and she couldna remain; She left this world of sorrow and pain, And return’d to the land of thought again. _514._ raike] ramble. tod] fox. attour] out over. forhooy’d] neglected. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 1770-1850 _Lucy_ _515._ _i_ Strange fits of passion have I known: And I will dare to tell, But in the lover’s ear alone, What once to me befell. When she I loved look’d every day Fresh as a rose in June, I to her cottage bent my way, Beneath an evening moon. Upon the moon I fix’d my eye, All over the wide lea; With quickening pace my horse drew nigh Those paths so dear to me. And now we reach’d the orchard-plot; And, as we climb’d the hill, The sinking moon to Lucy’s cot Came near and nearer still. In one of those sweet dreams I slept, Kind Nature’s gentlest boon! And all the while my eyes I kept On the descending moon. My horse moved on; hoof after hoof He raised, and never stopp’d: When down behind the cottage roof, At once, the bright moon dropp’d. What fond and wayward thoughts will slide Into a lover’s head! ‘O mercy!’ to myself I cried, ‘If Lucy should be dead!’ _516._ _ii_ She dwelt among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove, A Maid whom there were none to praise And very few to love: A violet by a mossy stone Half hidden from the eye! Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky. She lived unknown, and few could know When Lucy ceased to be; But she is in her grave, and oh, The difference to me! _517._ _iii_ I traveled among unknown men, In lands beyond the sea; Nor, England! did I know till then What love I bore to thee. ’Tis past, that melancholy dream! Nor will I quit thy shore A second time; for still I seem To love thee more and more. Among thy mountains did I feel The joy of my desire; And she I cherish’d turn’d her wheel Beside an English fire. Thy mornings show’d, thy nights conceal’d, The bowers where Lucy play’d; And thine too is the last green field That Lucy’s eyes survey’d. _518._ _iv_ Three years she grew in sun and shower; Then Nature said, ‘A lovelier flower On earth was never sown; This child I to myself will take; She shall be mine, and I will make A lady of my own.