"Nine summers had she scarcely seen, The pride of all the vale; And then she sang [4];--she would have been 35 A very nightingale. "Six feet in earth my Emma lay; And yet I loved her more, For so it seemed, than till that day I e'er had loved before. 40 "And, turning from her grave, I met, Beside the church-yard yew, A blooming Girl, whose hair was wet With points of morning dew. "A basket on her head she bare; 45 Her brow was smooth and white: To see a child so very fair, It was a pure delight! "No fountain from its rocky cave E'er tripped with foot so free; 50 She seemed as happy as a wave That dances on the sea. [A] "There came from me a sigh of pain Which I could ill confine; I looked at her, and looked again: 55 And did not wish her mine!" Matthew is in his grave, yet now, Methinks, I see him stand, As at that moment, with a bough [5] Of wilding in his hand. 60 * * * * * VARIANTS ON THE TEXT [Variant 1: 1802. And on that slope of springing corn The self-same crimson hue Fell from the sky that April morn, The same which now I view! 1800.] [Variant 2: 1815. With rod and line my silent sport I plied by Derwent's wave, 1800.] [Variant 3: 1837. And, coming to the church, ... 1800.] [Variant 4: 1800. ... sung;--... 1802. The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.] [Variant 5: 1820. ... his bough 1800.] * * * * * FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT [Footnote A: Compare the 'Winters Tale', act IV. scene iii. ll. 140-2: 'when you do dance, I wish you A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do Nothing but that, etc.' Ed.] * * * * * THE FOUNTAIN A CONVERSATION Composed 1799.--Published 1800 One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--Ed. We talked with open heart, and tongue Affectionate and true, A pair of friends, though I was young, And Matthew seventy-two. We lay beneath a spreading oak, 5 Beside a mossy seat; And from the turf a fountain broke, And gurgled at our feet. "Now, Matthew!" said I, "let us match [1] This water's pleasant tune 10 With some old border-song, or catch That suits a summer's noon; "Or of the church-clock and the chimes Sing here beneath the shade, That half-mad thing of witty rhymes 15 Which you last April made!" In silence Matthew lay, and eyed The spring beneath the tree; And thus the dear old Man replied, The grey-haired man of glee: 20 "No check, no stay, this Streamlet fears; [2] How merrily it goes! 'Twill murmur on a thousand years, And flow as now it flows.