Perhaps the Roman, when he ruled this land, Beside these Pleiad waters for a spell Villatic, of short summer ease, would dwell In lordly leisure as on Larian strand, And pace his portico with book in hand, Bathing his memory in the Mantuan's well, And thence refreshed would gaze on pike and fell, As though he there Helvetian icecrags scanned. These crystal northern pools together make A mirrored sisterhood as pure and clear As those Cisalpine; for our England's sake Let none misprize them: they have nought to fear From Como, Garda, or the Major Lake— Ullswater, Derwentwater, Windermere. |