ning dew.

"A basket on her head she bare; 45
Her brow was smooth and white:
To see a child so very fair,
It was a pure delight!

"No fountain from its rocky cave
E'er tripped with foot so free; 50
She seemed as happy as a wave
That dances on the sea. [A]

"There came from me a sigh of pain
Which I could ill confine;
I looked at her, and looked again: 55
And did not wish her mine!"

Matthew is in his grave, yet now,
Methinks, I see him stand,
As at that moment, with a bough [5]
Of wilding in his hand. 60

* * * * *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1802.

And on that slope of springing corn
The self-same crimson hue
Fell from the sky that April morn,
The same which now I view! 1800.]

[Variant 2:

1815.

With rod and line my silent sport
I plied by Derwent's wave, 1800.]

[Variant 3:

1837.

And, coming to the church, ... 1800.]

[Variant 4:

1800.

... sung;--... 1802.

The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.]

[Variant 5:

1820.

... his bough 1800.]

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: Compare the 'Winters Tale', act IV. scene iii. ll. 140-2:

'when you do dance, I wish you
A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do
Nothing but that, etc.'

Ed.]

* * * * *

THE FOUNTAIN

A CONVERSATION

Composed 1799.--Published 1800

One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--Ed.

We talked with open heart, and tongue
Affectionate and true,
A pair of friends, though I was young,
And Matthew seventy-two.

We lay beneath a spreading oak, 5
Beside a mossy seat;
And from the turf a fountain broke,
And gurgled at our feet.

"Now, Matthew!" said I, "let us match [1]
This water's pleasant tune 10
With some old border-song, or catch
That suits a summer's noon;

"Or of the church-clock and the chimes
Sing here beneath the shade,
That half-mad thing of witty rhymes 15
Which you last April made!"

In silence Matthew lay, and eyed
The spring beneath the tree;
And thus the dear old Man replied,
The grey-haired man of glee: