It would thy brain
unsettle
even to hear.
Wordsworth - 1
There, long were we neglected, and we bore
Much sorrow ere the fleet its anchor weigh'd; 1802. ]
[Variant 31:
1802.
Green fields before us and our native shore,
By fever, from polluted air incurred,
Ravage was made, for which no knell was heard.
Fondly we wished, and wished away, nor knew,
'Mid that long sickness, and those hopes deferr'd, 1798. ]
[Variant 32:
1802.
But from delay the summer calms were past. 1798. ]
[Variant 33:
1802.
We gazed with terror on the gloomy sleep
Of them that perished in the whirlwind's sweep, 1798. ]
[Variant 34:
Oh! dreadful price of being to resign
All that is dear _in_ being! better far
In Want's most lonely cave till death to pine,
Unseen, unheard, unwatched by any star;
Or in the streets and walks where proud men are,
Better our dying bodies to obtrude,
Than dog-like, wading at the heels of war,
Protract a curst existence, with the brood
That lap (their very nourishment! ) their brother's blood.
Only in the editions of 1798 and 1800. ]
[Variant 35:
1842.
It would thy brain unsettle even to hear. 1798. ]
[Variant 36:
1842.
Peaceful as some immeasurable plain
By the first beams of dawning light impress'd, 1798. ]
[Variant 37:
1827.
. . . has its hour of rest,
That comes not to the human mourner's breast. 1798.
I too was calm, though heavily distress'd! 1802. ]
[Variant 38:
1842.
Remote from man, and storms of mortal care,
A heavenly silence did the waves invest;
I looked and looked along the silent air,
Until it seemed to bring a joy to my despair. 1798.
Oh me, how quiet sky and ocean were!