It was an April morning: fresh and clear The Rivulet, delighting in its strength, Ran with a young man's speed; and yet the voice Of waters which the winter had supplied
Was softened down into a vernal tone. The spirit of enjoyment and desire, And hopes and wishes, from all living things Went circling, like a multitude of sounds.
The budding groves seemed eager to urge on The steps of June; as if their various hues Were only hindrances that stood between Them and their object: but, meanwhile, prevailed
Such an entire contentment in the air That every naked ash, and tardy tree Yet leafless, showed as ifthe countenance With which it looked on this delightful day
Were native to the summer.— Up the brook I roamed in the confusion of my heart, Alive to all things and forgetting all. At length I to a sudden turning came
In this continuous glen, where down a rock The Stream, so ardent in its course before, Sent forth such sallies of glad sound, that all Which I till then had heard, appeared the voice
Of common pleasure: beast and bird, the lamb, The shepherd's dog, the linnet and the thrush Vied with this waterfall, and made a song, Which, while I listened, seemed like the wild growth
Or like some natural produce of the air, That could not cease to be. Green leaves were here; But‘ twas the foliage of the rocks — the birch, The yew, the holly, and the bright green thorn,
With hanging islands of resplendent furze: And, on a summit, distant a short space, By any who should look beyond the dell, A single mountain-cottage might be seen.
I gazed and gazed, and to myself I said, “Our thoughts at least are ours; and this wild nook, My EMMA, I will dedicate to thee.” — Soon did the spot become my other home,
My dwelling, and my out-of-doors abode. And, of the Shepherds who have seen me there, To whom I sometimes in our idle talk Have told this fancy, two or three, perhaps,
Years after we are gone and in our graves, When they have cause to speak of this wild place, May call it by the name of EMMA'S DELL.
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