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al than well-considered. Improvements but rarely appear such to those who, after long intervals of time, revisit places they have had much pleasure in. It is unnecessary to add, the fact was as mentioned in the poem; and I have, after an interval of forty-five years, the image of the old man as fresh before my eyes as if I had seen him yesterday. The expression when the hounds were out, 'I dearly love their voice,' was word for word from his own lips.--I. F.] This poem was classed among those of "Sentiment and Reflection."--Ed. * * * * * THE POEM In the sweet shire of Cardigan, Not far from pleasant Ivor-hall, An old Man dwells, a little man,-- 'Tis said [1] he once was tall. [2] Full five-and-thirty [3] years he lived 5 A running huntsman merry; And still the centre of his cheek Is red as a ripe cherry. [4] No man like him the horn could sound, And hill and valley rang with glee: 10 When Echo bandied, round and round, The halloo of Simon Lee. In those proud days, he little cared For husbandry or tillage; To blither tasks did Simon rouse 15 The sleepers of the village. [5] He all the country could outrun, Could leave both man and horse behind; And often, ere the chase [6] was done, He reeled, and was stone blind. 20 And still there's something in the world At which his heart rejoices; For when the chiming hounds are out, He dearly loves their voices! But, oh the heavy change! [A]--bereft 25 Of health, strength, friends, and kindred, see! [7] Old Simon to the world is left In liveried poverty. His Master's dead,--and no one now Dwells in the Hall of Ivor; 30 Men, dogs, and horses, all are dead; He is the sole survivor. [8] And [9] he is lean and he is sick; His body, dwindled and awry, Rests upon ankles swoln and thick; 35 His legs are thin and dry. One prop he has, and only one, His wife, an aged woman, Lives with him, near the waterfall, Upon the village Common. [10] 40 Beside their moss-grown hut of clay, Not twenty paces from the door, A scrap of land they have, but they Are poorest of the poor. This scrap of land h
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