198 CHANGES OF ABODE. 



" Something in the guise 



Of those old patriarchs, when from well to well, 

 They roamed through wastes where now the tented 

 Arabs dwell," 



as related in the charming descriptive epistle 

 addressed to his friend Sir George Beaumont. 



PISCATOR. It was from Grrasmere that he 

 set out in that primitive style, but not from 

 the cottage at Townend ; I believe it was from 

 Allan Bank, that larger house you see yonder, 

 conspicuous under those dark crags, for the 

 verses to which you allude bear the date of 

 1811 ; and he informs us in his brief, too brief, 

 autobiography that he changed his abode to 

 Allan Bank in the spring of 1808. Undoubt- 

 edly, his manner of life, as you remark, is 

 portrayed in his poetry, that is, partially ; 

 how can it be otherwise ? The words I have 

 quoted, and to which I like to return, are, 

 as you may remember, from a noble outbreak 

 of feeling worthy of Milton. I will repeat 

 them to you. Their being written in London, 

 and in 1802, will account for the outbreak. 



" O friend ! I know not which way I must look 

 For comfort, being as I am opprest, 

 To think that now our life is only drest 

 For show : mean handy-work of craftsman, cook, 

 Or groom ! We must run glittering like a brook 



