FIDELITY. There, sometimes, doth the leaping fish Send through the tarn a lonely cheer; The crag repeats the raven's croak, In symphony austere ; Thither the rainbow comes,-the cloud,- Not free from boding thoughts, awhile Nor far had gone before he found From those abrupt and perilous rocks The man had fall'n, that place of fear! At length, upon the shepherd's mind. It breaks, and all is clear: He instantly recall'd the name, And who he was, and whence he came; Remember'd, too, the very day On which the traveller pass'd this way. But hear a wonder, for whose sake This lamentable tale I tell! FIDELITY. A lasting monument of words This wonder merits well. The dog, which still was hovering nigh, This dog had been, through three months' space, A dweller in that savage place. Yes, proof was plain, that since that day, When this ill-fated traveller died, The dog had watch'd about the spot, Or by his master's side: How nourish'd here through such long time, He knows, who gave that love sublime; WORDSWORTH. |