This sonnet was first published along with _The Waggoner_. In the editions from 1820 to 1832 it was placed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets." In 1835 it was included in the series of "Poems, composed or suggested during a tour, in the summer of 1833."--ED. Among the mountains were we nursed, loved Stream! Thou near the eagle's nest--within brief sail, I, of his bold wing floating on the gale, Where thy deep voice could lull me! Faint the beam Of human life when first allowed to gleam 5 On mortal notice.--Glory of the vale, Such thy meek outset, with a crown, though frail, Kept in perpetual verdure by the steam Of thy soft breath!--Less vivid wreath[379] entwined Nemæan victor's brow; less bright was worn, 10 Meed of some Roman chief--in triumph borne With captives chained; and shedding from his car The sunset splendours of a finished war Upon the proud enslavers of mankind! The Derwent has its source on the slopes of Glaramara; and an _Eagle Crag_ rises above one of its affluents (the Langstrath beck, separating the Langstrath from the Greenup Valley). Doubtless there were eagles there in the last century when Wordsworth was born, and they would soar over Skiddaw and the Grasmere group of mountains towards Cockermouth, his birth-place.--ED. VARIANTS: [Footnote 379: 1827. ... wreaths ... 1819. ] FOOTNOTES: [Footnote DO: Compare in _The Primrose of the Rock_-- The flowers, still faithful to the stems, Their fellowship renew; The stems are faithful to the root, That worketh out of view; And to the rock the root adheres In every fibre true. ED. ] [Footnote DP: Macedonian; the district of Emathia being the original seat of the Macedonian monarchy.--ED.] [Footnote DQ: An allusion to the so-called Sacred Band, whose successes under Pelopidas had so large a share in sustaining the Theban ascendency after the Battle of Leuctra (B.C. 371-366).--ED.] COMPOSED IN ONE OF THE VALLEYS OF WESTMORELAND, ON EASTER SUNDAY[380] Composed 1819.--Published 1819 One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED. With each recurrence of this glorious morn That saw the Saviour in his human frame Rise from the dead, erewhile the Cottage-dame Put on fresh raiment--till that hour unworn: Domestic[381] hands the home-bred wool had shorn, 5 And she who span it culled[382] the daintiest fleece, In thoughtful reverence to the Prince of Peace, Whose temples bled beneath the platted thorn. A blest estate when piety sublime These humble props disdained not! O green dales! Sad may _I_ be who heard your sabbath chime 11 When Art's abused inventions were unknown; Kind Nature's various wealth was all your own; And benefits were weighed in Reason's scales! VARIANTS: [Footnote 380: 1819.