A Herdsman on the lonely mountain tops, Such intercourse was his, and in this sort 220 Was his existence oftentimes _possessed_. O then how beautiful, how bright, appeared The written promise! Early had he learned[28] To reverence the volume that[29] displays The mystery, the life which cannot die; 225 But in the mountains did he _feel_ his faith. All things, responsive to the writing, there[30] Breathed immortality, revolving life, And greatness still revolving; infinite: There littleness was not; the least of things 230 Seemed infinite; and there his spirit shaped Her prospects, nor did he believe,--he _saw_. What wonder if his being thus became Sublime and comprehensive! Low desires, Low thoughts had there no place; yet was his heart Lowly; for he was meek in gratitude, 236 Oft as he called those ecstasies to mind, And whence they flowed; and from them he acquired Wisdom, which works thro' patience; thence he learned In oft-recurring hours[31] of sober thought 240 To look on Nature with a humble heart, Self-questioned where it did not understand, And with a superstitious eye of love. So passed the time; yet to the nearest town[32] He duly went with what small overplus 245 His earnings might supply, and brought away The book that[33] most had tempted his desires While at the stall he read. Among the hills He gazed upon that mighty orb of song, The divine Milton.[AK] Lore of different kind, 250 The annual savings of a toilsome life, His School-master[34] supplied; books that explain The purer elements of truth involved In lines and numbers, and, by charm severe, (Especially perceived where nature droops 255 And feeling is suppressed) preserve the mind Busy in solitude and poverty. These occupations oftentimes deceived The listless hours, while in the hollow vale, Hollow and green, he lay on the green turf 260 In pensive idleness. What could he do, Thus daily thirsting, in that lonesome life With blind endeavours?[35] Yet, still uppermost, Nature was at his heart as if he felt, Though yet he knew not how, a wasting power 265 In all things that[36] from her sweet influence Might tend to wean him. Therefore with her hues, Her forms, and with the spirit of her forms, He clothed the nakedness of austere truth. While yet he lingered in the rudiments 270 Of science, and among her simplest laws, His triangles--they were the stars of heaven, The silent stars! Oft did he take delight To measure the altitude[37] of some tall crag That[38] is the eagle's birth-place, or some peak 275