HOW NATURE STUDY SHOULD BE TAUGHT 3 1 



live a famous and poetical life, about which per- 

 haps he only will ever know, and while he may 

 never be able to express himself with Words- 

 worth's skill, yet he may live his poetry in all the 

 fullness with which Wordsworth lived it as a 

 boy: 



There was a Boy ; ye knew him well, ye Cliffs 



And islands of Winander ! — many a time, 



At evening, when the earliest stars began 



To move along the edges of the hills, 



Rising or setting, would he stand alone, 



Benteath the trees, or by the glimmering lake ; 



And then, with fingers interwoven, both hands 



Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth 



Uplifted, he, as through an instrument. 



Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls, 



That they might answer him.— And they would shout 



Across the watery vale, and shout again. 



Responsive to his call — ^with quivering peals. 



And long halloos, and screams, and echoes wild 



Of mirth and jocund din ! And, when it chanced 



That pauses of deep silence mocked his skill. 



Then, sometimes, in that silence, while he hung 



Listening, a gentle shock of mild surprise 



Has carried far into his heart the voice 



Of mountain torrents ; or the visible scene 



Would enter unawares into his mind. 



With all its solemn imagery, its rocks. 



Its woods, and that uncertain heaven, received 



Into the bosom of the steady lake. 



Many young folks do live in this way, until 

 they are given too much lobster ! 



