Lyrical Ballads (1800)/Volume 2/Inscription (1)
INSCRIPTION
For the Spot where the HERMITAGE stood on St. Herbert's Island, Derwent-Water.
If thou in the dear love of some one friend
Hast been so happy, that thou know'st what thought
Will, sometimes, in the happiness of love
Make the heart sink, then wilt thou reverence
This quiet spot.——St. Herbert hither came
And here, for many seasons, from the world
Remov'd, and the affections of the world
He dwelt in solitude. He living here,
This island's sole inhabitant! had left
A Fellow-labourer, whom the good Man lov'd
As his own soul; and when within his cave
Alone he knelt before the crucifix
While o'er the lake the cataract of Lodore
Peal'd to his orisons, and when he pac'd
Along the beach of this small isle and thought
Of his Companion, he had pray'd that both
Might die in the same moment. Nor in vain
So pray'd he:—as our Chronicles report,
Though here the Hermit number'd his last days,
Far from St. Cuthbert his beloved friend,
Those holy men both died in the same hour.