Stranger! this hillock of mis-shapen stones Is not a Ruin spared or made by time, [1] Nor, as perchance thou rashly deem'st, the Cairn Of some old British Chief: 'tis nothing more Than the rude embryo of a little Dome 5 Or Pleasure-house, once destined to be built [2] Among the birch-trees of this rocky isle. [3] But, as it chanced, Sir William having learned That from the shore a full-grown man might wade, And make himself a freeman of this spot 10 At any hour he chose, the prudent Knight [4] Desisted, and the quarry and the mound Are monuments of his unfinished task. The block on which these lines are traced, perhaps, Was once selected as the corner-stone 15 Of that [5] intended Pile, which would have been Some quaint odd plaything of elaborate skill, So that, I guess, the linnet and the thrush, And other little builders who dwell here, Had wondered at the work. But blame him not, 20 For old Sir William was a gentle Knight, Bred in this vale, to which he appertained [6] With all his ancestry. Then peace to him, And for the outrage which he had devised Entire forgiveness!--But if thou art one 25 On fire with thy impatience to become An inmate of these mountains,--if, disturbed By beautiful conceptions, thou hast hewn Out of the quiet rock the elements Of thy trim Mansion destined soon to blaze 30 In snow white splendour, [B] [7]--think again; and, taught By old Sir William and his quarry, leave Thy fragments to the bramble and the rose; There let the vernal slow warm sun himself, And let the redbreast hop from stone to stone. 35 * * * * * VARIANTS ON THE TEXT [Variant 1: 1837. Is not a ruin of the ancient time, 1800. ... antique ... MS.] [Variant 2: 1802. ... which was to have been built 1800.] [Variant 3: 1800. Of some old British warrior: so, to speak The honest truth, 'tis neither more nor less Than the rude germ of what was to have been A pleasure-house, and built upon this isle. MS.] [Variant 4: 1837. ... the Knight forthwith 1800.] [Variant 5: 1837. Of the ... 1800.] [Variant 6: 1800. Bred here, and to this valley appertained MS. 1798.] [Variant 7: 1800. ... glory, ... 1802. The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.] * * * * * FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT [Footnote A: In a MS. copy this is given as "the lesser Island."--Ed.] [Footnote B: Compare Wordsworth's "objections to white, as a colour, in large spots or masses in landscape," in his 'Guide through the district of the Lakes' (section third).--Ed.] * * * * * 1799