The Wonder of the World 19 



''And when five hundred years were gone 

 I came the same road as anon; 

 Then not a mark of town I met. 

 A shepherd on the flute did play, 

 The cattle leaf and foliage ate. 

 I asked how long is the town away ? 

 He spake, and piped on as before, 

 *One plant is green when the other's o'er, 

 This is my pasture forevermore.* 



'And when five hundred years were gone 

 I came the same road as anon. 

 Then did I find with waves a lake, 

 A man the net cast in the bay. 

 And when he paused from his heavy take, 

 I asked since when the lake here lay ? 

 He spake, and laughed my question o'er, 

 'As long as the waves break as of yore, 

 One fishes and fishes on this shore.' 



'And when five hundred years were gone 

 I came the same way as anon. 

 A wooded place I then did see. 

 And a hermit in a cell did stay; 

 He felled with an axe a mighty tree. 

 I asked since when the wood here lay? 

 He spake: 'The wood's a shelter forevermore 

 I ever lived upon this floor. 

 And the trees will grow on as before.* 



'And when five hundred years were gone 

 I came the same way as anon. 

 But then I found a city filled 

 With market's clamour shrill and gay. 

 I asked how long is the city built, 



