Go, faithful Portrait! and where long hath knelt Margaret, the saintly Foundress, take thy place; And, if Time spare the colours[751] for the grace Which to the work surpassing skill hath dealt, Thou, on thy rock reclined, though kingdoms melt 5 And states be torn up by the roots,[752] wilt seem To breathe in rural peace, to hear the stream,[753] And[754] think and feel as once the Poet felt. Whate'er thy fate, those features have not grown Unrecognised through many a household tear[755] 10 More prompt, more glad, to fall than drops of dew By morning shed around a flower half-blown; Tears of delight, that testified how true To life thou art, and, in thy truth, how dear! FOOTNOTES: [751] The colour has already faded somewhat. The portrait is reproduced in volume vi. of this edition.--ED. [752] Compare _Elegiac Musings_, p. 269.--ED. [753] 1835. Before the breath of change unchanged wilt seem, Green Hills in sight, and listening to the stream, MS. [754] 1837. To ... 1835. [755] 1835. ... falling tear MS. ... starting tear MS. RURAL ILLUSIONS Composed 1832.--Published 1835 [Written at Rydal Mount. Observed a hundred times in the grounds there.--I. F.] One of the "Poems of the Fancy."--ED. Sylph was it? or a Bird more bright Than those of fabulous stock? A second darted by;--and lo! Another of the flock, Through sunshine flitting from the bough 5 To nestle in the rock. Transient deception! a gay freak Of April's mimicries! Those brilliant strangers, hailed with joy Among the budding trees, 10 Proved last year's leaves, pushed from the spray To frolic on the breeze. Maternal Flora! show thy face, And let thy hand be seen, Thy hand here sprinkling tiny flowers,[756] 15 That, as they touch the green, Take root (so seems it) and look up In honour of their Queen. Yet, sooth, those little starry specks, That not in vain aspired 20 To be confounded with live growths, Most dainty, most admired, Were only blossoms dropped from twigs Of their own offspring tired.