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And which, once built, retains a steadfast shape
And undisturbed proportions; but a thing
Subject, you deem, to vital accidents;
And, like the water-lilly, lives and thrives;
Whose root is fixed in stable earth, whose head
Floats on the tossing waves. With joy sincere
I re-salute these sentiments, confirmed
By your authority. But how acquire
The inward principle, that gives effect
To outward argument; the passive will
Meek to admit; the active energy,
Strong and unbounded to embrace, and firm
To keep and cherish? How shall Man unite
A self-forgetting tenderness of heart
And earth-despising dignity of soul?
Wise in that union, and without it blind!"
"The way," said I, "to court, if not obtain
The ingenuous Mind, apt to be set aright;
This, in the lonely Dell discoursing, you
Declared at large; and by what exercise
From visible nature or the inner self
