For thou hast sought 460 The truth in solitude, and, since the days That gave thee liberty, full long desired, To serve in Nature's temple, thou hast been The most assiduous of her ministers; In many things my brother, chiefly here 465 In this our deep devotion.
Fare thee well! Health and the quiet of a healthful mind Attend thee! seeking oft the haunts of men, And yet more often living with thyself, And for thyself, so haply shall thy days 470 Be many, and a blessing to mankind.

[b] * * * * * FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT [Footnote A: The "square" of the "small market village" of Hawkshead still remains; and the presence of the new "assembly-room" does not prevent us from realising it as open, with the "rude mass of native rock left midway" in it--the "old grey stone," which was the centre of the village sports .-- Ed.] [Footnote B: Compare 'The Excursion', book ix.ll.

487-90: 'When, on thy bosom, spacious Windermere! A Youth, I practised this delightful art; Tossed on the waves alone, or 'mid a crew Of joyous comrades.' Ed.] [Footnote C: Compare 'The Excursion', book ix.l.544, describing "a fair Isle with birch-trees fringed," where they gathered leaves of that shy plant (its flower was shed), the lily of the vale .-- Ed.] [Footnote D: These islands in Windermere are easily identified.

In the Lily of the Valley Island the plant still grows, though not abundantly; but from Lady Holme the 'ruins of a shrine Once to Our Lady dedicate' have disappeared as completely as the shrine in St.Herbert's Island, Derwentwater.

The third island: 'musical with birds, That sang and ceased not--' may have been House Holme, or that now called Thomson's Holme.