Compare the lines 827-881 with the account of the view from the top of Snowdon, in _The Prelude_, book xiv. II. 11-62 (vol. iii. pp. 367-68), and see Charles Lamb's remarks in his letter to Wordsworth (Aug. 14, 1814) on receiving a copy of _The Excursion_. (_Letters of Charles Lamb_, edited by Alfred Ainger, vol. i. p. 271.) In his _Table Talk_ Coleridge expresses a wish "that the first two books of _The Excursion_ had been published separately under the name of 'The Deserted Cottages.' They would have formed, what indeed they are, one of the most beautiful poems in the language." This advice has been followed more than once--ED.] =Book Third= DESPONDENCY ARGUMENT _Images in the Valley--Another Recess in it entered and described--Wanderer's sensations--Solitary's excited by the same objects--Contrast between these--Despondency of the Solitary gently reproved--Conversation exhibiting the Solitary's past and present opinions and feelings, till he enters upon his own History at length--His domestic felicity--Afflictions--Dejection--Roused by the French Revolution--Disappointment and disgust--Voyage to America--Disappointment and disgust pursue him--His return--His languor and depression of mind, from want of faith in the great truths of Religion, and want of confidence in the virtue of Mankind._ A HUMMING BEE--a little tinkling rill-- A pair of falcons wheeling on the wing, In clamorous agitation, round the crest Of a tall rock, their airy citadel-- By each and all of these the pensive ear 5 Was greeted, in the silence that ensued, When through the cottage threshold we had passed, And, deep within that lonesome valley, stood Once more beneath the concave of a[211] blue And cloudless sky.--Anon exclaimed our Host, 10 Triumphantly dispersing with the taunt The shade of discontent which on his brow Had gathered,--"Ye have left my cell,--but see How Nature hems you in with friendly arms! And by her help ye are my prisoners still. 15 But which way shall I lead you?--how contrive, In spot so parsimoniously endowed, That the brief hours, which yet remain, may reap Some recompense of knowledge or delight?" So saying, round he looked, as if perplexed; 20 And, to remove those doubts, my grey-haired Friend Said--"Shall we take this pathway for our guide?-- Upward it winds, as if, in summer heats, Its line had first been fashioned by the flock Seeking a place of refuge[212] at the root 25 Of yon black Yew-tree, whose protruded boughs Darken the silver bosom of the crag,[CS] From which she draws her[213] meagre sustenance. There in commodious shelter may we rest. Or let us trace this streamlet to its[214] source; 30 Feebly it tinkles with an earthy sound,