9. TO THE RIVER DUDDON.

O mountain Stream! the Shepherd and his Cot

Are privileg'd Inmates of deep solitude:

Nor would the nicest Anchorite exclude

A Field or two of brighter green, or Plot

Of tillage-ground, that seemeth like a spot

Of stationary sunshine: thou hast view'd

These only, Duddon! with their paths renew'd

By fits and starts, yet this contents thee not.

Thee hath some awful Spirit impell'd to leave,

Utterly to desert, the haunts of men,

Though simple thy Companions were and few;

And through this wilderness a passage cleave

Attended but by thy own Voice, save when

The Clouds and Fowls of the air thy way pursue.